The Tennessee Titans went on a 4-0 run in October and Derrick Henry was a massive part of that. Everyone in the NFL took notice, and despite having a bye week in October, Derrick Henry still managed to grab the title of Offensive Player of the Month for the AFC.
It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the Titans’ offense goes as Henry goes, and that didn’t go smoothly to start the year.
For the first two games of the season, the running game made the Titans’ offense play with a hand tied behind their back, which isn’t on Derrick Henry. A lot of that dysfunction falls on the shoulders of OC and “Run Game Coordinator” Todd Downing who was dialing up pitches behind backup tackles and jet sweeps to tight ends.
Then came Week 3 and the Titans started to remember who they were. More zone blocking and better chemistry on the offensive line led to a solid game by Derrick Henry. That set up the All-Pro running back for a crucial Week 4 (October 2nd) matchup against the “surging” Indianapolis Colts.
Derrick Henry dominates the spooky month
Over the month of October, Derrick Henry stacked up 563 yards on the ground which was more than anyone else in the NFL. Let me stress this again, the Tennessee Titans had a bye week so Henry outpaced every running back in the NFL and the Titans played a game less than most of the league.
It is the third time that Henry has won the award and he is the first running back to win it three times since Todd Gurley whose third win came in 2018.
We shouldn’t need more data to show that Derrick Henry is the gold standard at running back, but people are quick to forget who the true rushing king is. Pretenders pop up every year whether it is Christian McCaffery, Nick Chubb, or Jonathan Taylor, it doesn’t matter because there is one name that continues to stand alone at the top.
Derrick Henry.