Tennessee Titans: More proof Derrick Henry is a beast

Pro Football Focus provided more proof that Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is a beast.

As if we needed more proof that Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is a beast, Pro Football Focus has provided it for us in the form of the “forced missed tackles” metric.

According to PFF, forced missed tackles are “a more accurate representation of a running back’s skills once the ball is in their hands and independent of team blocking.”

In Henry’s case, he finished tied for first in the NFL in 2018 with 45, along with the Seattle Seahawks’ Chris Carson and the Washington Redskins’ Adrian Peterson.

Henry finished with his first 1,000-yard season in his third year, while also scoring a career-high 12 touchdowns.

Clearly Henry is one of the hardest backs to bring down in the league. Not surprising considering he’s a big man, coming in at 6-foot-3, 247 pounds. Because of that size, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey even admitted defenders don’t like to face him on Sundays.

Earlier in the offseason, we also told you about how great Henry is against stacked boxes, as he finished as the No. 10-graded running back in those situations, with an overall grade of 71.1.

Henry is a special breed of runner. Not only is he a bruising back capable of shedding tackles like its nothing, he’s also a big-play runner who can make house calls from anywhere on the field.

And the Jags saw that firsthand after Henry torched them for a record-tying 99-yard touchdown run in Week 14 of last season. In that run, Henry didn’t just show breakaway speed, he also had to run over nearly every Jacksonville defender to find pay dirt.

The only thing that can stop Henry is injury. The Alabama product has been dealing with a strained calf muscle since the opening practice of training camp. His timetable for return was set at about two weeks, so he still has time to recover in order to be ready for the start of the 2019 season.

In a run-first offense, Derrick Henry will be vital to the Titans’ success this upcoming season. With a full workload, Henry could be set to have a huge season after his breakout final four weeks of 2018 in which he totaled 585 yards and seven touchdowns.