Ravens RB Derrick Henry is running hard — and way ahead of schedule
The Buffalo Bills' oh-shit moment arrived early Sunday night. It washed over their defense in a flash of 247-pound lightning. Ravens running back Derrick Henry was gone, off to the races on an 87-yard touchdown , and this was only the beginning, because the game was not even five minutes old.
Three more quarters of ? Ronnie Stanley grinned as he imagined what Bills defenders must have felt .
"After the first play, I got that sense," the Ravens left tackle said Thursday. "Yeah, definitely."
Henry's thundering first month in Baltimore has led him to the top of NFL leaderboards — first in rushing yards (480), first in rushing touchdowns (five), second in rushing first downs (24) — and the brink of NFL history. With 18 rushing yards Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, Henry would become the league's 32nd player to reach 10,000 career rushing yards.
His breakout is both right on time and way ahead of schedule. The Ravens never needed Henry more than after their 0-2 start. What Henry offered in back-to-back wins over the Dallas Cowboys and the Bills was uncharacteristic: September dominance.
Over his eight years with the Tennessee Titans, Henry seemed to save his best for last. Not just the end of games but the end of seasons. In September, according to TruMedia, Henry averaged just 3.9 yards per carry and had a 38.2% success rate (the percentage of plays with positive expected points added). In October, 4.6 yards per carry and a 35.9% success rate. In November, 4.9 yards per carry and a 42.5% success rate. In December and January, 5.2 yards per carry and a 42.1% success rate.
Over his first September in Baltimore, Henry ran as if he weren't rationing dominance for the winter. Bolstered by quarterback Lamar Jackson's gravitational pull and the Ravens' improved run blocking, he averaged 6 yards per carry and had a 45% success rate.
"There's a lot of things about Derrick that make him unique," coach John Harbaugh said Monday. "Talent is one of them, for sure, and work ethic is another one, for sure. He's just a very tough human being. Really, the proof is in the results, and you kind of go by what you see. So, when we were evaluating the possibility of bringing him in here, I just think we looked at how he's been playing. And to see that continue on obviously is great, but we did expect him to play this way, and we're excited about it."
Henry, 30, does not so much improve over the course of a season as he endures. On the NFL's Fury Road, Henry is a War Rig with an 18-wheeler's fuel tank, built to keep rolling all 17 games (and then some).
Tales of his workout prowess and fastidious diet are legion. Outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy said on his podcast that, after Henry rumbled for 199 yards against Buffalo, he was "back in the gym" early Monday. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey marveled at Henry's attention to detail during recent visits to his home, when even Henry's father was helping with his recovery efforts.
"I would say it's almost obsessive, but it's very normal to him," Humphrey said Wednesday. "I feel like as much attention to detail he puts into his body, he's able to be just as fresh at the beginning of the season as he is at the end, while most guys, that's just a hard test to do. So obviously, in the game, he's stronger in the third and fourth quarter than he is in the first and second quarter, and I think it's just a testament to true, true discipline."
"I just believe in my training and the player I am," Henry said after Sunday's win, "and just try to go out and execute and help this team in any way possible."
The Ravens know the challenge of stopping late-season Derrick Henry because, well, they've tried. In the 2020 playoffs, they held him to 18 carries for 40 yards in a wild-card-round win over Tennessee. But the year before, Henry rushed 30 times for 195 yards as the Titans stunned the top-seeded Ravens in the divisional round.
Harbaugh is fond of "force multipliers," and Henry seemingly qualifies, his mere presence magnifying the physical misery of run stoppers. Defensive lineman Brent Urban, who played with Henry in Tennessee in 2019, said "you feel all bruised up" toward the end of a season. Henry's running style is a sledgehammer, not a salve.
"A team's handing the ball off to him 20, 30 times, yeah, you're definitely going to take a beating," Urban said Thursday. "It's a mental edge, I guess, on [the offense's] side because you watch the film, you know how your body's feeling, and then you get into those games where, if you're down in the game, and they're just going to keep handing it off to him, yeah, it's going to wear on the defense. And, mentally and physically, you're going to feel it, for sure."
"Truth be told, yes, I think a lot of defenders don't like to see him coming," inside linebacker Roquan Smith said Thursday. "When he's pulling up on the block, a lot of guys make 'business decisions.' It's kind of funny when I'm looking at it from the other side, but I'm just happy he's on our team now."
Even better for the Ravens: The calendar only just flipped to October. This is around when things tend to start snowballing for Henry. What could he do in November, in December, in January with a head start?
"You can only imagine ... what it's going to look like down the stretch," Urban said. "A great asset to have."
He chuckled. "Happy I don't have to keep trying to tackle that guy."
