National Football League

Ravens RB Derrick Henry approaching gold-jacket status — if he’s not already there

Published Oct. 17, 2024 1:59 p.m. ET

In the Ravens' production meeting this week, someone asked John Harbaugh about Derrick Henry: "Who do you compare him to?"

Eric Dickerson came to mind for the Baltimore coach. Harbaugh had seen an article comparing Henry to the Pro Football Hall of Famer, who was an inch taller than the 6-foot-2 Henry but was more slender (Henry is listed at 247 pounds; Dickerson played at 220).

"I remember Eric Dickerson coming up, but after that, and even that, I don't know, man," Harbaugh said Monday. "He's one of one."

That couldn't be more clear this season, with Canton becoming clearer in view.

Entering Week 7, Henry leads the NFL in carries (119), rushing yards (704), rushing touchdowns (8), rushing yards per game (117.3), scrimmage yards (753) and total touchdowns (9). He also has the longest run of the season by any player — his 87-yard run against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4, which was a touchdown.

After a historic eight-year run with the Tennessee Titans, Henry is a favorite to win AP Offensive Player of the Year in his first season with the Ravens (4-2). He had a slow start to the year — just 46 yards (and a touchdown) on 13 carries in the season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — but he's had at least 84 rushing yards in five consecutive games, including more than 130 in three of those contests.

In the Ravens' four-game winning streak, he has 93 touches for 611 scrimmage yards and seven total touchdowns.

"Those guys are doing a great job of blocking and making my job easier," Henry said after Sunday's victory over the Washington Commanders. "I just have to get the ball, make a read, get North or South, and finish runs."

In the winning streak, we've seen Baltimore's offense become what we expected it to be on paper with Henry in the fold. The Ravens for years have had an elite rushing game, but they're hitting new heights with the four-time Pro Bowler.

Henry and two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson are the focal point of a Ravens offense that boasts the league's No. 1 rushing attack by a wide margin. Baltimore averages 205.3 rushing yards per game (second is Green Bay, which averages 167.2 rushing yards per game) on 5.9 yards per carry (there's a three-way tie for second place at 5.3). Among players with at least 45 carries, Jackson (6.3) and Henry (5.9) rank first and second, respectively.

After Henry's last two seasons with the Titans, many league observers believed that the inevitable running-back decline had finally hit. He averaged just 68.6 rushing yards per game last season, his lowest mark since 2018. Henry's rushing success rate the previous two seasons (46.7% in 2022, 46.5% in 2023) was also the lowest it had been for a full season since 2017, his second year in the NFL (before he became a full-time starter), when it was 45.5%, according to Pro Football Reference.

But it appears that was just a Titans offensive line issue. Henry is currently pacing for a career-high 5.9 yards per carry with the Ravens. He's averaging an astounding 3.9 rushing yards before contact per carry, up from 2.0 with Tennessee last year, per Pro Football Reference. To put into further context: His previous career-best was 2.5 rushing yards before contact per carry, which came in 2020, when he became the eighth player in league history to rush for over 2,000 yards.

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Putting up these numbers at age 30, Henry is forcing his way into the "timeless running back" conversation. Like how Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore did in the generation before him.

"He's the king," Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike said. "He's 'King Henry' for a reason, and I'm glad he's on our side."

Henry currently ranks 31st in NFL history with 10,206 career rushing yards. The top 16 is where Canton would seemingly become a virtual lock for him. Of the top 16 in career rushing yards, only Gore and Peterson aren't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — and they're not yet eligible for induction.

Buffalo Bills legend Thurman Thomas, who's 16th on the list, has 12,074 career rushing yards — 1,868 more than Henry.

So at Henry's current 2024 pace of 117.3 rushing yards per game, he'd pass Thomas in 16 games. Assuming Henry doesn't miss a game, that would be five games into the 2025 season, the last year of his contract with the Ravens.

"I don't really focus on what people say," Henry said. "Just worry about what I do, week after week, prepare myself and get ready, try to work as hard as I can just so I'm playing at a high level on Sunday."

That approach has him barreling toward legend status.

Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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