Are the Titans going to pay Derrick Henry big bucks? I think they have to. He’s been awfully dominant the last two years.
Henry, recall, had one of the greatest runs in NFL history in 2018, stiff-arming guys onto the ground on a 99-yard touchdown against Jacksonville – part of a 238-yard night. And he really put the team on his back this year, winning the rushing title and going over 180 rushing yards to power playoff wins at New England and Baltimore.
As well as Henry has played, I don’t think he should settle for anything less than the largest running back contract in league history. The cap keeps going up, with players at other positions routinely signing record-breaking contracts.
There have been 15 games the last two years with players going over 170 rushing yards. Henry has accounted for 40 percent of them.
170-YARD RUSHING GAMES (last 2 years) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Opp | Result | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
2018 | Derrick Henry, Ten. | Jac. | W 30-9 | 17 | 238 | 14.0 | 4 |
2019 | Leonard Fournette, Jac. | at Den. | W 26-24 | 29 | 225 | 7.8 | 0 |
2019 | Raheem Mostert, S.F. | G.B. | W 37-20 | 29 | 220 | 7.6 | 4 |
2018 | Isaiah Crowell, NYJ | Den. | W 34-16 | 15 | 219 | 14.6 | 1 |
2019 | Derrick Henry, Ten. | at Hou. | W 35-14 | 32 | 211 | 6.6 | 3 |
2018 | Todd Gurley, LAR | at Den. | W 23-20 | 28 | 208 | 7.4 | 2 |
2019 | Derrick Henry, Ten. | at Balt. | W 28-12 | 30 | 195 | 6.5 | 0 |
2019 | Saquon Barkley, NYG | at Was. | W 41-35 | 22 | 189 | 8.6 | 1 |
2019 | Derrick Henry, Ten. | K.C. | W 35-32 | 23 | 188 | 8.2 | 2 |
2018 | Christian McCaffrey, Car. | Cin. | W 31-21 | 28 | 184 | 6.6 | 0 |
2019 | Derrick Henry, Ten. | at N.E. | W 20-13 | 34 | 182 | 5.4 | 1 |
2019 | Christian McCaffrey, Car. | Jac. | W 34-27 | 19 | 176 | 9.3 | 2 |
2018 | Nick Chubb, Cle. | Atl. | W 28-16 | 20 | 176 | 8.8 | 1 |
2019 | Marlon Mack, Ind. | at LAC | L 24-30 | 25 | 174 | 7.0 | 1 |
2018 | Derrick Henry, Ten. | at NYG | W 17-0 | 33 | 170 | 5.2 | 2 |
Stat chart compiled using the search tools at Pro-Football-Reference website.
—Ian Allan