'A dominant, dominant back:' On the peerless Derrick Henry
How has Derrick Henry aged like fine wine? Our Bob McGinn has the story with quotes and analysis from scouts/coaches from the running back's draft to today.
This is the continuation of a 2023 series looking at active players and their current situation via a vis what it was entering the NFL draft. The comments from personnel men were made in the months leading up to the draft for my NFL Draft Series, which dates to 1985. Scouting football prospects is an inexact science, especially when it comes to off-the-field considerations. It has been said that no two evaluators view a player exactly the same way.
By Bob McGinn
Twenty-seven running backs in NFL history have outgained Derrick Henry. Every one of them played longer than Henry with the exception of Jim Brown, who abruptly retired in the mid-1960s after nine seasons.
Like Henry, they all defied the actuarial tables for their occupation. Sixteen are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and others, such as Henry, are likely to follow.
In March, the Tennessee Titans decided to move on from Henry, 30, after eight seasons. They did so fully aware what he had meant to the organization and the community. Of the players whose entire careers came after the franchise moved from Houston to Nashville in 1997, Henry undoubtedly ranks as the most impactful.
Henry is prospering now in Baltimore, leading the NFL in rushing by almost 200 yards as mid-season approaches. His total of 946 yards through eight games already ranks 20th on the Ravens’ single-season list.
Almost impervious to injury during his career and with a franchise that values running the ball, there’s no telling how far Henry can climb on the all-time rushing list. He sits 28th now with 10,448, seven yards beyond Titan great Eddie George and one yard behind Tiki Barber.
Emmitt Smith needed 15 seasons to move past Walter Payton and onto the top rung with 18,355. He averaged 81.2 yards for the Cowboys and Cardinals, which ranks 16th all-time. Henry ranks 13th at 82.3.
Gregg Williams served as a defensive coordinator for seven NFL teams and a head coach for two. Twelve of his seasons as an NFL assistant were spent with the Oilers and Titans.
“I’m so proud of Derrick,” Williams said Thursday from his home in Cleveland. “So many others thought he was done. All he’s done is showed everybody this year that, ‘No, I’m not done.’ I think it’s fantastic. He’s a dominant, dominant back.”
The franchise that was born in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League has had more than its share of illustrious players. Among the greats that played only in Houston (never in Nashville) were Elvin Bethea, Robert Brazile, Earl Campbell, Mike Munchak, Warren Moon and Ray Childress.
Heading the cast of distinguished players that called both cities home were Bruce Matthews, Brad Hopkins, Steve McNair and George.
Who is the greatest Oiler/Titan of them all?
Williams, an assistant for the team from 1990-’00 and 2013, has never been bashful about voicing his opinion and he wasn’t shy taking on this topic.
“Well, it’s hard for me not to say Earl Campbell,” said Williams, who was defensive coordinator the past two seasons for the UFL Washington Defenders and now is doing media work involving television and podcasts. “I’ve always been very close to him. It’s Earl Campbell. But in my 12 years there I got a chance to be around some very great players.”
In an eight-year career shortened by injury Campbell gained 9,407 yards to rank 38th all-time. He averaged 81.8 yards per game, just a tick behind Henry. He averaged 4.3.
George, in nine seasons, ranks 29th with 10,441 yards and is 27th in average per game at 74.0. His average per carry, however, was merely 3.6.
The Ravens had been competing against Henry for years.
“We’re talking about a guy who has missed very little time in his career,” Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said in March after signing Henry. “He’s kind of a unicorn, to be honest … his combination of speed, power, durability. He’s thrived in different systems and done different things. He’s won wherever he’s been, and those kinds of guys are rare. We’ve had some here in Baltimore. They are just different from everybody else, and I think Derrick is a good example of that.”
Of the 27 backs ahead of Henry on the all-time rushing chart, only four weighed 230 or more to qualify as jumbo backs. Acknowledging the fluctuation of weights, the great big backs were No. 8 Jerome Bettis (5-11, 248, 4.69), No. 18 Steven Jackson (6-1 ½, 232, 4.59), No. 19 John Riggins (6-2, 240, 40 N/A) and No. 25 Jamal Lewis (5-11 ½, 240, 4.45).
Bettis, Riggins and Lewis have Super Bowl rings. Henry might be next.
BASICS
Height: 6-2 ½. Weight: 247 (played into the 250s during his career in Tennessee). Age: 30. From: Yulee, Fla.
40-yard dash: 4.54. Vertical jump: 37 inches. Broad jump: 10-10. Bench press: 22 reps. Wonderlic test: 15. Short shuttle: 4.38. 3-cone: 7.20. Arms: 33. Hands: 8 ¾ (fourth smallest of the 29 RBs at the combine).
Rushed for more than 2,000 yards in each of his four seasons at Yulee High School. Finished with 12,124 yards, breaking the national high school record (11,232) that was held by Ken Hall of Sugar Land, Texas for 51 years. Set a Florida single-game mark with 510 yards. Gained 4,261 as a senior. Five-star prospect ranked as the nation’s No. 1 athlete.