Although there were a couple of big time headlines for the Tennessee Titans last week, I’m gonna shift gears and get back to the prediction talk. It is predictions season, after all. It’s a big year for the Titans offense. For the most part, we know what we’re going to get with the defense – a (hopefully) top 10 unit. But, while everyone’s talking about Marcus Mariota heading into 2019, I think it’s actually running back Derrick Henry who is the biggest x-factor on this offense this season.
Why not Marcus? Given the ‘run the ball and play defense’ philosophy that many expect the Titans to have again in 2019, you kinda know what you’re going to get from Mariota. It’s his best supporting cast yet, so one would assume he’s going to play well. But, he’s going to hand off the ball a lot. I don’t think he’s costing the Titans game this season either. The offense doesn’t really run through him the way it does other quarterbacks. It does, however, run through the rushing attack. If the Titans can run the ball effectively, it’ll open up the passing game. But, if they can’t run the ball effectively, they may be fucked.
Now, Henry was spotted in a walking boot over the weekend, but the Titans coaching staff keeps reassuring us that there’s no reason to worry. The injury isn’t that serious. And, there are still some big questions surrounding Henry anyway, lest we forget.
He’s supposed to be #TheGuy, but we only saw that for a brief stretch in 2018. 585 of his 1,059 rushing yards in 2018 came in the last four games of the season. That’s 55% of his entire production coming in the last quarter of the season. Likewise, he scored seven of his 12 touchdowns during that four-game stretch as well. In the remaining 12 games, he only topped 50 yards four times, and he had SEVEN GAMES with 40 or less rushing yards.
So, the question all offseason has been, “which Henry are we going to get in 2019?”
To me, that translates to the Titans offense as a whole. If Henry is the back we saw at the beginning of 2018, this run game won’t be able to establish itself. The Titans will have trouble scoring points as a result. If he is, then we just may be on to something, folks. I don’t think any other player on offense (maybe Marcus…maybe…he does have the capacity of throwing interceptions that could largely effect games…) has that sort of effect on the team.
People are putting a lot on Mariota’s shoulders, but I think this Titans offense is going to go as the run game goes. With Henry being the key cog in the run game moving forward, and having such a Jekyll and Hyde 2018, that makes him this preseason’s biggest x-factor on offense.
Henry turned his 2018 season around after a come-to-Jesus meeting with Eddie George. I hope the Titans have hired Eddie to be Henry’s personal life coach if that’s how he’s going to play after their meetings.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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