Derrick Henry Fantasy News and Statistics

Since Chris Johnson left the team after the 2013 season, the Tennessee Titans have been searching for a quality running back. After drafting Derrick Henry and signing free agent DeMarco Murray in 2016, the team suddenly had two. Henry, Murray and quarterback Marcus Mariota are part of the core that is bringing the Titans back to national prominence.

Under Nick Saban, Alabama has become a factory for producing NFL running backs. Each year, five-star prospects come in, and seemingly every season at least one running back gets drafted. Henry didn’t receive significant playing time until his junior season because of the wealth of talent the Crimson Tide had at the position. In 2015, he ran the ball an unfathomable 395 times, including 44 carries in the SEC Championship Game. Henry single-handedly flattened the Florida Gators in that contest, finishing with 189 yards and a touchdown in the 29-15 victory.

Henry kept rolling through the College Football Playoff, rushing for 233 yards and five touchdowns in victories over Michigan State and Clemson. He would go on to finish the 2015 season with 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns, breaking the SEC record for yards, carries and touchdowns in a season. He was awarded the Heisman Trophy in a tightly contested race with Christian McCaffrey.

Despite unprecedented college success, many doubted Henry’s ability to succeed at the NFL level. It is possible that he was unfairly punished for the lack of success by previous Alabama running backs like Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. During the draft process, he was criticized for his perceived lack of acceleration, poor tackle-breaking ability and his minimal impact in the passing game. However, Henry ran a 4.54 40-yard dash standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 247 pounds.

As a result, Henry was selected with the No. 12 pick in the second round. The Titans had just drafted Mariota in 2015’s first round and were in the process of building an offense around him. Henry joined the newly signed Murray in the backfield, forming a potent one-two punch that head coach Mike Mularkey famously described as “exotic smashmouth football.”

The running game may not have been exotic, but it was very effective in 2016. Murray ran for almost 1,300 yards and scored 12 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Henry finished with nearly 500 yards and scored five times. The Titans finished third in the NFL in rushing yards and improved their average points per game to 23.8 after scoring only 18.7 the season prior.

Murray will play the 2017 season at 29 years old and has over 1,500 NFL touches on his body. The Titans drafted Henry with the future in mind, and in his second season Henry should be more adapted to the NFL game. A second-round draft pick is a lot of capital for a running back, and the Titans want him to contribute sooner rather than later. They have built one of the best offensive lines in the league, which should give Henry room to build up speed before he hits the line. Mariota is a quarterback on the rise, and the Tennessee offense is making strides every season. The 2017 campaign could be the one in which Henry shows all of the skills that made him so great in college.