The 2-1 Baltimore Ravens playing host to the 0-3 Tennessee Titans doesn't, on the surface, seem like one of the storylines worth paying attention to in Week 4 of the NFL. But the contest holds significant meaning for running back Derrick Henry.
The game marks the first time that Henry, 32, will face his former team since being allowed to leave in free agency after the 2023 season. Even though Tennessee knew that Henry could be on a Hall of Fame trajectory, the Titans were moving towards a rebuild and decided they wanted to trend younger at the running back position.
The move appeared logical from Tennessee's end, as the physical toll of Henry's running style appeared to be wearing on him. His yards per carry declined from 5.4 in 2020 to 4.2 in his walk year, when he was set to play his age-30 campaign. What happened next, though, has defied conventional logic — as Henry found a second wind with the Ravens, whose dedication to the running game and physicality was a perfect match for his second act.
Over his first two years in Baltimore, Henry ran for 3,516 yards and 32 touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry on 632 totes. The Titans, on the other hand, have gone just 6-31 over the past two-plus years while getting a significant downgrade in production from the combination of Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears.
Derrick Henry's second act has been remarkable
It has been incredible to watch Henry's second act, given that the cumulative wear-and-tear of the running back position tends to lead most players to be on the back nine of their career by the time they turn 30. Henry appears to be getting stronger as he ages and the Ravens believe in his ability to sustain his physical running style, giving him a two-year extension in 2025 that pays him $15 million per year.
The Baltimore chapter of Henry's career has only bolstered his Hall-of-Fame credentials as he has moved into the top 10 in all-time rushing yards with 13,319 entering Week 4. Henry has racked up 301 yards on the ground on this point, putting him on pace for over 1,700 yards rushing on the season.
There's still time for the law of averages to level things out a bit, but if Henry does meet that projection he would leap all the way to sixth on the all-time list with 14,726 yards — trailing fifth-place Adrian Peterson by just under 200. Adding a 1,500-yard campaign in 2027, which seems improbable but is something we can't rule out given Henry's unique aging curve, would move him into third place, trailing only Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith.
Smith's career total of 18,355 yards seems untouchable given how running backs are handled these days, but Henry has a chance to defy the odds and claim that record with another three or four years of strong production. Henry's ability to gain tough yards up the middle and be a short-yardage weapon could also extend his career for a few years as teams will always look for ways to gain strategic advantages in gritty spots.
How did Titans botch Derrick Henry decision so badly?
The fact that Tennessee has fallen apart completely without Henry is also fascinating, since the decision they made was defensible given what we knew at the time. It is certainly possible that Henry would not have been able to sustain this success if he stayed with the Titans, who have churned through multiple head coaches over the past two years and seen a significant downgrade to their offensive line over that span.
The end result became a perfect marriage between player and team, as Henry's smashmouth running style is a living embodiment of the physical ethos Baltimore likes to espouse. Having a running threat at quarterback like Lamar Jackson has also opened up a lot of running lanes for Henry, who has a chance to author a historic finish to his career in purple and black.
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