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Madden 21 giving Derrick Henry the perfect amount of respect

By Will Lomas

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 24: Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans runs the ball and avoids the tackle from Jarrod Wilson #26 of the Jacksonville Jaguars at Nissan Stadium on November 24, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Jaguars 42-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 24: Derrick Henry #22 of the Tennessee Titans runs the ball and avoids the tackle from Jarrod Wilson #26 of the Jacksonville Jaguars at Nissan Stadium on November 24, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans defeated the Jaguars 42-20. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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Madden 21 loves Derrick Henry.

Derrick Henry led the NFL in rushing yards last season but isn’t the top-rated running back in Madden 21, Tennessee Titans fans should be mad right?

Well, no not exactly.

Before I say all this I feel like I need to give a disclaimer, I think Derrick Henry is one or two great seasons away from being the best RB in the Titans era of this franchise (it is going to be hard for anyone to ever take the top spot from Earl Campbell).

However, I don’t think he is the most well-rounded RB in the NFL and no one else should either. That is why Henry being the second-highest graded RB in Madden 21 shouldn’t offend anyone.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1283095201498697728

Over the last two years, Christian McCaffery has been the best receiving back in the NFL while Derrick Henry has been the best player in the open field with the ball in his hands.

In Madden 21’s rating system, they don’t great how dominant a player really is in one area, but instead, they take the collective grades and use them to come up with a total that results in the overall grade.

So while Henry should be viewed as the best runner of the two, there is a world of difference between the two as receivers. Statistically, this is pretty evident when you look at the fact that over the last two years Henry has 114 more rushing yards than McCaffery, but McCaffery has 1,567 more receiving yards than Henry.

So fans should be happy about Henry’s improvement from Madden 20 to Madden 21, but that doesn’t mean all is forgiven yet. You may remember that Madden 20 was criticized by Titans fans for not having Henry’s stiff-arm rating high enough.

Well, Madden 21 listened to Titans fans (for once) and did better this year.

https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/1283223607599079424

Of course, that should be a 99, but you want to give them somewhere to improve when they come out with a special upgraded version of him after he absolutely levels someone with a stiff arm at some point during the season (my money is on any Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker).

On that note, I should also remind people that this is just a starting point for Madden 21. They will change these rankings throughout the season and Henry will almost undoubtedly be upgraded from a 93 to something more like a 96 during the season when he is doing his best imitation of what the child of a Ferrari and a bulldozer would look like.

Henry is an absolute stud (Will Compton voice) and it is good to see him get recognized nationally as one of the best running backs in the game. Now it is just about getting from the silver medal to the gold medal.

In the meantime, it looks like the Titans will spend this year trying to figure out the perfect way to balance the carries between he and Darrynton Evans so that they can decide on a long term figure that works for both sides.

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