American Football
Derrick Henry is the NFL’s last great franchise running back
Henry is on pace to become one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.
We knew Derrick Henry on the Ravens was going to be fun, but what’s happening in Baltimore this season has been on an entirely other level. Henry crossed the 1,000 yard mark on Sunday, putting him on pace for 1,987 rushing yards this season. All while posting a career-high 6.3 yards-per-carry in 2024.
A couple of extra carries and he might enter the 2,000 yard club for the second time in his career — the only player to hit the mark since Adrian Peterson in 2012. Henry has been a constant during a time of monumental change. He entered the league when running backs were underpaid, perfunctory throw aways, and now he’s still dominating the league as rushing has moved back to become the focal point of the league’s best offenses.
Nobody in the last decade plays quite like Derrick Henry. A singular-focused, three-down back who relishes contact and picking up yards the hard way. He’s not a dual-threat, he’s not one for gadget plays. Henry will take the ball, outrun a defense, and if someone is unfortunate enough to get in his way they’re about to have a bad time.
Henry also did something else special on Sunday: Become the 10th running back in NFL history to run for 100 touchdowns in his career. The company he’s with is frankly ludicrous.
- Emmitt Smith — 164
- LaDainian Tomlinson — 145
- Marcus Allen — 123
- Adrian Peterson — 120
- Walter Payton — 110
- Jim Brown — 106
- John Riggins — 104
- Derrick Henry — 102
- Marshall Faulk — 100
- Shaun Alexander — 100
As it stands Henry is projected to add another 10 rushing touchdowns this season, which would surpass Walter Payton and move him into the No. 5 spot. With another season on his Ravens contract in 2025 he’ll likely pass Adrian Peterson and Marcus Allen too, and from there it’s simply a battle against time for the 30-year-old back to see how high he can climb.
When we consider that the next two active backs in career touchdowns are Ezekiel Elliott (73) and Alvin Kamara (60), with nobody else close to sniffing 80 TDs, let alone 100 — then there’s a very real chance that Henry is the last great running back we’ll ever see in the league.
Make no mistake: There will be great running backs in the future, but the nature of the position has changed at such a fundamental level at every stage of the game that the expectation for running backs is that they have dual-threat abilities, naturally limiting their raw rushing figures. It’s unclear if that will ever really change, and with more concerns about load management in multi-back systems it’s unclear if we’ll ever see a running back carry the ball over 2,000 times again, as Henry has.
So, what’s the absolute ceiling for Henry’s? Let’s imagine for a moment that everything breaks his way, he stays in Baltimore for the remainder of his career, and is able to run up the numbers until he retires from football. Adrian Peterson is the natural comparison, being Henry’s next-closest analog in terms of era.
AP finished his career with 3,230 carries at at 36. He also experienced a drop-off in performance that began around age 32 — and he posted roughly 900 carries at a 25 percent drop in production from 32 to 36. If we do that to Derrick Henry he will finish his career with ….
14,874 rushing yards (6th all time)
142 rushing touchdowns (3rd all time)
It would put him on-par with some of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL, and we’re still being conservative by comparing him to late-stage Peterson, who had off-field issues and team changes that drastically damaged his resume.
There is a very real chance we’re seeing the greatest running back of the 21st century play, and perhaps the last of a dying breed. Enjoy it while we can.