Where does Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry rank in the NFL

Did Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry do enough to crack the top-10 RBs in the NFL?

Very few RBs share a connection with the fan base as much as Derrick Henry does with the Tennessee Titans.

Without an NFL team in their state, Alabama fans seem to end up in the Titans fan base more often than not and with the Titans recent history of drafting Tide players, why wouldn’t they?

Fans of the franchise since the move to Nashville see a lot of Eddie George in Derrick Henry’s running style, the prototypical bully and workhorse. The analytics actually say that he is very similar to DeMarco Murray who was obviously a big name with the Dallas Cowboys before coming over to the Titans in the first year of Jon Robinson’s tenure as GM.

The only standout RB over the last 20 years that people don’t often compare him to is Chris Johnson, and honestly that is probably the player he actually shares the most in common with. His straight line speed in the open field is very rarely matched and he has never been someone who really likes to do the dirty work inside.

Despite all of this, Henry really hasn’t found the success that many expected in the NFL. It took a historic December to give Henry his first season with over 1,000 yards rushing in the NFL in his three-year career.

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It isn’t all bad obviously. He has an NFL record 99-yard touchdown run on his resume and averages 4.6 YPC for his career over 500 touches which is a pretty impressive thing considering he has played behind some under preforming offensive lines since moving to the NFL.

While the arrow definitely looks like it is pointing up for Henry, there is a long body of work he needs to disprove if he is going to start getting national attention as someone who is just more than a flash in the pan.

That was evidenced today by former division rival Maurice Jones-Drew, when he posted his top-32 RB1 rankings and left Derrick Henry out of the top-10:

15. Derrick Henry

"Henry transformed from a caterpillar early in the 2018 season to a butterfly by Week 17. He went from averaging 10.7 carries per game through 12 contests to averaging 21.8 carries and establishing himself as one of the biggest threats in the final quarter of the season. Henry averaged 146.3 rushing yards per game down the stretch. If the Titans are going to return to the postseason, they’ll have to lean on Henry throughout the season — not only when it gets cold outside."

You may expect me to accuse MoJo of some kind of bias, but honestly he isn’t wrong.

Derrick Henry was the single-most dangerous running back in the NFL in the month of December. If he had started the season with that style and effectiveness the Titans would have easily made the playoffs, but he didn’t and they didn’t.

There are a few RBs ahead of him that I would argue about like Dalvin Cook, Sony Michel, Nick Chubb, and James Conner. He could easily be ranked in the top-12 or top-10 on this list, but consistency is key.

By the end of the year with the Titans improved offensive line I really think that he could crack the top-10 or top-8, but if he is more of the player Titans fan saw in the first 8-weeks then this is where most people will see and rank him.

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