Baltimore Beatdown
Derrick Henry is on pace to break the NFL’s all time rushing record, but can he sustain it?
Through nine years of his NFL career, Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry has been nothing short of prolific. He’s one of nine players to gain 2,000-plus yards in a single season, led the NFL in rushing twice, rushing touchdowns thrice and bludgeoned run defenses on his way to ranking No. 19 on the NFL’s all-time rushing yards leaderboard (11,423 yards). The gap between Henry and the top five rushers in NFL history is wide, but Henry obliterated the 10,000-yard barrier — and the 11,000-yard barrier in 2024. He’s 62.2% of the way to Emmitt Smith’s record (18,355). Is it sustainable? How does he stack up compared to the top five rushers in NFL history?
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19. Derrick Henry: 11,423 yards | 2,355 carries
As with all career leaders, health is the driving factor.
“If [player] stays healthy for [allotment of time], they have a chance to break [leader’s] all-time [category] record.”
It’s Mad Libs, sports edition. It’s been that way and it will stay that way. The most recent iteration being Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. So, for all intents and purposes, we have to use the phrase for Henry.
“If Henry stays healthy for six or more seasons, they have a chance to break Smith’s all-time rushing record.”
Henry is 3,495 yards from unseating Peterson. And at his current rate of averaging 84.0 yards per game, he could do so in under 2.5 seasons. With him joining the Ravens, revitalizing him (weird saying that when he went back-to-back seasons with 1,100+ yards with the Titans in 2022-23), all odds are he can do so. Last season, Henry averaged 113 yards per game.
It’s fair to question how sustainable that is. But Henry’s finished more seasons averaging over 100 yards than not since becoming the starting back.
By the numbers, Henry’s achieved 76% of Peterson’s rushing total on 72% of the carries. He’s marginally ahead.
Going by season pacing stats, he’s behind — barely. After nine seasons, Peterson amassed 11,675 yards; a difference of 252 yards. But Peterson’s production plummeted after Year 9. The physicality took its toll. He played just three games in Year 10, and ultimately finished with 3,243 yards in his final six seasons (540 yards per season). All signs point toward Henry continuing his dominance.
In third place with an aesthetically pleasing 16,000 yards is Gore, a beacon of consistency. The Inconvenient Truth produced nine 1,000-yard seasons and in his 16-year career went above 600 yards in all but one (599 in Year 15).
To take Gore’s place...
