Derrick Henry’s impact on the Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is one of the few players in the league who was voted as the best player at his position in Jeremy Fowler’s poll of NFL executives/coaches and who was rated as the best player at his position in Madden 23.
Being named the top running back in the NFL after missing the majority of last season shows some well-earned respect that Henry has built up within the league. An unspecified coach was quoted in ESPN’s article, saying “You can give him the ball 30 times and he won’t disappoint.”
In fact, everyone in the NFL knows this and other teams are definitely preparing for it.
We know what the identity of the Tennessee Titans is this year. The roster, the coaching staff, and the contracts have all been completely aligned to this one guiding principle going into the 2022 season…Derrick Henry.
Being the focal point of the franchise is something Henry has earned, I do not think anyone would argue this, but it does come with expectations.
It’s boom-or-bust for Henry this year, and much of the Titans’ hopes rest on the shoulders of their beloved running back.
Kings stay Kings
After last year, with Henry missing the bulk of the season and the extremely short attention span of the league media, some doubters have sprung up questioning who the “King” of the league really is.
Ryan Clark got on First Take in response to announce that Jonathan Taylor is “more explosive and more of a big play threat” than Derrick Henry in response to Henry having a higher Madden rating.
Henry will have to prove everyone right (or wrong, if you are in the Ryan Clark camp), or else he risks losing the title of “King” and the team risks pushing all of its chips in on the 28-year-old running back with a herculean workload, and most importantly the Titans will be forced to consider turning the page on this championship window.
With playoff flops the last couple of years, the shimmering optimism of fans after the 2019 season is starting to fade. A cloud of doubt and gloom will cast a shadow over Nissan Stadium all year in the form of the memories of a nasty and still-fresh playoff loss.
So the question is: Can Derrick Henry carry his team to a Super Bowl and restore the sunshine to Tennessee Titans fans everywhere?
What will Henry’s return look like for the Tennessee Titans?
To a certain degree with Henry coming off the most rest of his career and being firmly in his prime, it would be a disappointment if he was outrushed by anyone else this year if he stays healthy. Emphasis on “If”.
The hopes of the Tennessee Titans rely on Derrick Henry and Derrick Henry’s hopes rely on his ability to sustain an unprecedented workload for a running back.
Despite his foot injury last season, if you ask a Tennessee Titans fan whether they are concerned about Derrick Henry or not you will get some version of, “Don’t worry, Henry is just built different, it’s nothing.” But according to the medical analysis, the outlook is not promising.
A 2018 study published in the Orthopedic Journal of Sports explained, “Performance scores for players with (Jones) fractures were lower than those for controls across all positions, with a significant difference in running backs”.
Essentially, the medical odds are against Henry. But Henry has rarely had issues with surpassing expectations.
Despite what the science tells us, let’s not forget that Deebo Samuel suffered a Jones fracture in 2020 and he simply went on to be one of the best players in the league last year following that injury.
But injuries are like a bad Grateful Dead cover band, there is no rhyme or reason. It’s impossible to say whether Henry or any other player will be healthy all year. If he does have an entirely healthy year, there is no doubt Henry will be disappointed if he does not approach 2000 yards again this year.
As it stands, the offense looks poised to be very… very run-heavy. The wide receiver core is largely unproven and their best receiver is credited as one of the best run-blocking receivers in the NFL.
In addition, by adding a strong hybrid pass-catching/blocking tight end in Austin Hooper and drafting Chigoziem Okonkwo, who appears to be emerging as a legitimate contributor with his athleticism, we could see lots of heavy two-tight end formations this year. That is, more than usual even for the Titans.
The defensive side of the roster has largely been carried over from last year and if they have anywhere remotely close to the success they had last year then the offense’s success will ride on Henry’s success.
So, the closer Henry gets to 2,000 yards on the season the chances of a successful year exponentially increases. It’s not a complicated formula.
Clearly, the team is counting on its ability to bully and dictate the game with a hefty run game. But that’s no surprise since it’s a formula that’s worked for the last three years.
Derrick Henry’s outlook for the Tennessee Titans
Henry has all of the tools in place a running back can ask for at his disposal: a good set of blocking receivers, a strong defense, and a run-first coach.
But Henry has already had a 2,000-yard season and that season led to an early bow-out in the playoffs to the Ravens where Henry only managed 40 yards.
This leads us back to the question at hand. Can Henry take a Tennessee team that overachieved without him last year and be the main guy on a championship team?
Looking back, the last time a running back led the league in rushing and won the Superbowl happened back in 1998 when Terrell Davis and the Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons.
With that in mind, six times the league-leading rusher since 1998 has missed the playoffs, but for the most part, teams with the leading rushers fizzle out in the wildcard or divisional rounds before they have the chance to reach the big game.
The good news is that the league-leading passer has never won a Superbowl, six have reached the Superbowl, but they have all lost. So that’s good news cause we can safely assume Ryan Tannehill will not be leading the league in this category.
Jokes aside, this year will be the most important of Henry’s career.
Ultimately, a bad year could damage his aspirations to be known as one of the greatest running backs of all time, but a good and healthy year could elevate him into the ring of honor of all-time great players, not just for the Tennessee Titans organization, but in NFL history.
But if Henry can lead the Tennessee Titans to a Superbowl… there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind who the King is.