Derrick Henry’s fantasy football owners and Tennessee Titans fans aren’t the only ones who want to see the running back get a healthy dose of carries.
Two Hall of Fame running backs are in agreement that the Tennessee Titans need to give Derrick Henry the ball more in 2019.
Henry exploded in the last four games of 2018 when he did see his workload increase. The Alabama product totaled 585 yards and seven touchdowns when he averaged almost 22 carries per contest in that span.
According to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online, LaDainian Tomlinson thinks it’s time to make Henry the man.
"“Derrick is a power back with great speed and really good feet, and I think he has shown glimpses that he can be a full-time guy in this league. Now I think they should just let him have it. It’s his show now. There’s nothing wrong with having a guy come in and spell him – a guy playing on third downs. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I think they need to give (Henry) 300 carries if he can handle it.”"
Henry was stuck in a timeshare with fellow back Dion Lewis for the first 12 weeks and averaged a shade under 11 carries per game, which led to him totaling 474 yards on the ground.
It was a frustrating turn of events for fantasy owners who invested in Henry thinking he’d be a workhorse back. As a Titans fan, it was especially frustrating because Lewis didn’t do much with his carries after he averaged 3.3 yards per tote in 2018.
If Henry totals 300 carries in 16 games, that would average out to nearly 19 carries per week. A workload like that would guarantee at least 1,000 yards on the ground, and as he’s shown in the past, Henry is capable of putting up much more than that with more opportunities.
Terrell Davis also subscribes to the idea that Henry needs the rock in his hands more often.
"“You saw the way he started to run. Early in the season it wasn’t there for him. And toward the end of the year he had the big games — the game against Jacksonville was incredible. If you need to have a run game established, you need to give him some carries. He has proven he can carry the load. He’s kind of a throwback – a guy you want to give him the ball in the high 20s is what I am thinking. And he gets stronger as the game goes on.”"
Henry’s former head coach at Alabama, Nick Saban, said earlier this offseason that Henry is the kind of back who needs a consistent workload to be effective. The Titans would be wise to listen to the advice of these three because the evidence is overwhelming that they’re right.
We’ll see just how many opportunities the Titans plan on giving Derrick Henry when the season starts this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. My guess is it’ll be a lot.