Dawgs By Nature
New Baltimore running back is having an MVP season
Thank you Jerry Jones. Thank you very much for not signing free agent running back Derrick Henry this past off-season when it was clear you needed running back help. Now that Henry has left the Tennessee Titans to become a roster member of the Baltimore Ravens, the Cleveland Browns get to see the talented back not once every four years, but twice a season as both clubs are members of the same division.
Thanks a lot, Jarah.
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This Sunday, the Browns (1-6-0) face off against the 5-2-0 Ravens for the first time this season in a home game. There's not much chance Baltimore will forget to pack their key running back for the trip.
Henry (6’-3”, 247 pounds) is a four-time Pro Bowler who is destroying every team he has faced this year. Currently, he is leading the NFL in rushing with 873 yards, 206 yards more than the next guy on the list Jordan Mason who is filling in for the injured Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers.
Henry has the most attempts (134), most rushing touchdowns (8), most rushes for first downs (38), most yards from scrimmage (935), highest percentage on first down attempts (28.4%), highest yards per carry average (6.5), highest yards per game average (124.7), most rushes 20+ yards (10), third most rushes 40+ yards (3), and the longest run from scrimmage at 87 yards. He also has caught two touchdown passes and is a dependable blocker when held in.
In “Next Gen Stats” under the category of “Remarkable Rushes”, in the Top-20 Henry’s name is listed multiple times with three. His top speed has been clocked at 21.72 MPH.
And now, the Browns defense which was ranked at the top just a year ago is about to find out if their game plan to corral this talented back is correct.
Did anyone mention that the Ravens are currently on a five-game winning streak?
If Henry continues his average of 124.7 yards per game, at season’s end he will have accumulated 2,120 yards this year. The 2,000-yard plateau has only been broken eight times in NFL history, including Henry’s 2020 season in which he gained 2,027 yards in a 16-game season good enough for fifth-most overall. Henry was named the “NFL Offensive Player of the Year” because of this feat. This time around, he is aided with an extra game if he remains healthy.
The NFL record is 2,105 yards set by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams back in 1984 during 16 games. It was Dickerson’s second year in the league. With the extra game added, NFL fans just may see a new single-season rushing leader.
Through seven games, only one other player has had that many total yards coupled with that high yards-per-carry average: Jim Brown in 1963.
For the Browns, all this 2,000-yard season is nonsense if DC Jim Schwartz can...
