What if Derrick Henry starts slow during the Tennessee Titans season?
There’s no doubt about it. Derrick Henry is the best running back on Planet Earth, but this may be the best supporting cast that he’s had since arriving in Tennessee with the Titans. That’s where fans and, no doubt, Tennessee’s coaches have an interesting quandary to consider.
Derrick Henry is too good to limit his carries. Good things happen when he’s given the ball, but he’s also someone that the Titans can’t overwork if they want to keep him around for a considerable amount of time. The running back position is the most punished in the NFL, and the over usage of Titans greats like Eddie George and Chris Johnson is a big reason why their careers weren’t longer.
Then again, it needs to be mentioned again. How can this team lessen Henry’s carries? Just saying it sounds like a bad idea. Then, from selfish standpoints, we all want to see him amass 2,000 yards rushing on the season again, and in all honesty, he has a great chance to make that happen.
Still, if his carries are limited or he isn’t posting the numbers Titans fans are used to early, no one should panic.
Possible knee-jerk reactions: Can we all be honest here? We’re all pulling for back-to-back 2000-yard performances out of Henry for the most selfish of reasons, but he’s carried the ball over 300 times in both 2019 and 2020. That’s a lot. Titans fans may never be satisfied with The King’s workload. It doesn’t matter how much he gets the ball. People will say that he didn’t get it enough.
Healthier scenarios: As mentioned, the Titans have arguably never had anything on offense that mirrors having Derrick Henry in the backfield and A.J. Brown and Julio Jones split out wide. That isn’t a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it’s given the Titans something they’ve been lacking for some time, balance.
As much as Tennessee Titans fans would love to see Derrick Henry amass 2,000 yards rushing or more in 2021, this might be the time that he can coast some and be fully rested for the postseason. To make long stories short, if Derrick Henry has 300 carries on his regular-season resume at season’s end, the Titans are either blowing everyone out or the Julio and A.J. thing isn’t working in the manner that everyone hoped.