Former Jaguars RB inexplicably leaves Derrick Henry out of top-5 RBs

Former RB dismissed Derrick Henry.

Sometimes people can say things that just leave you scratching your head, but to hear a former running back think that Derrick Henry isn’t a top-5 player at his position is a tough pill to swallow.

That is exactly what happened when Maurice Jones-Drew attempted to rank the leading RBs for every team in the NFL.

In order, here is how he ranked the RBs until he got to Derrick Henry:

1. Christian McCaffery

2. Ezekiel Elliott

3. Nick Chubb

4. Alvin Kamara

5. Joe Mixon

6. Saquon Barkley

7. Derrick Henry (explanation below)

"I know the two sides still have until July 15 to get a deal done, but I’m still trying to figure out why the Titans haven’t signed Henry to a long-term extension yet. He was incredible last season, winning the league rushing title and taking the team to the AFC Championship Game. So they franchise-tag Henry and pay Ryan Tannehill, the guy who turned around and handed the ball to Henry? Hmmm … doesn’t quite add up, does it? All I know is, I’m ready for Henry to ball out again."

So, wait. MJD was confused about why the Titans hadn’t signed Henry to an extension because he was “incredible”, but he also says “I’m ready for Henry to ball out again” as he ranks him below six other running backs?

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I’m not going to try to teach MJD why NFL teams think that quarterback is a more important position than running back or what scarcity means, but this is basically him spending his entire analysis portion of this assignment on describing that it is weird that Tannehill got paid before Henry.

That feels like a really bad way to explain why you ranked the NFL’s leading rusher 7th among running backs right? Wouldn’t you be better served to explain any deficiencies in Derrick Henry’s game or reasons why you might want to rank someone who has almost single-handedly embarrassed the franchise you played for into imploding?

Ranking running backs like Nick Chubb ahead of Henry with the sole excuse being that Chubb is a great pass blocker has to be frustrating for the running back in the NFL who actually ran the best.

Regardless of your feelings about Ryan Tannehill or Derrick Henry, the fact is that when the two were on the same field the Tennessee Titans offense turned from a disappointment to can’t-miss stuff. That combination was fundamental in making the Titans what they ended up being last year, and that identity is what this team has decided to build around.

At this point, you either get on board with Derrick Henry as a player or you expose yourself as someone who doesn’t understand how important he is to the Titans.

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