There’s Absolutely No Reason to Panic About Derrick Henry

Derrick Henry is going to be just fine, y'all.

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Sometimes, I wonder about y’all when I log onto social media and scroll through my timelines. Titans Twitter can be an apocalyptic place. Titans Facebook can make me feel like I have the same intelligence level as a toaster. I can assure you guys that the sky is not falling. Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is going to be just fine. He hasn’t really hit the home run just yet, and because of that, it feels like he’s not performing up to his usual standards. But, that doesn’t mean there’s any reason for concern just yet.

The first thing I’d call out is that Henry has never really been a fast starter. He does his best work later on in the season. And yet, in 2020, he’s actually off to the best start of his career in terms of pure rushing yardage.

Maybe it feels like he’s not as productive because, let’s be real, that postseason run was the stuff of legend. That was a truly historic run. So, if that’s the last we saw of Henry before these last two games, yeah – maybe it feels like it’s a little subpar. But, that’s setting the bar way too high. It’s unrealistic to think he’s going to hit marks like he did in the playoffs every week, which is something else I’d call attention to. “Not historic” does not equate to “bad.”

That’s the thing – Henry is STILL the second leading rusher in the NFL right now with 200 yards. He’s only 34 yards behind the leader at the moment, Aaron Jones. He’s one of two backs in the league averaging 100 yards per game, but we’re out here talkin’ about how he “just isn’t right.

No, this rushing attack isn’t out there posting numbers like it did at the end of 2019. The run blocking has been a little suspect, and the things that were working then don’t seem to be working now. This is a unit that isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders right now. Henry has been close a couple of times, but he just isn’t getting the space he saw at the end of last season. He’s a back that likes space – you give him an inch, he’ll take a mile. We just haven’t seen that just yet. It doesn’t mean that isn’t there anymore.

Finally, how about we just give props to the Jags for a good game plan to stop Henry? They didn’t allow him to find space. They crowded that offensive line and gave him nowhere to run. Not to mention, they did a fantastic job of getting contact on Henry before he could get going. If you can keep him from hitting that second gear of his, you’re going a long way in bottling him up.

It was evident that they were content to let Ryan Tannehill beat them. But, what we’ve seen so far doesn’t mean it’s time to panic.

Derrick Henry is going to be just fine, y’all.

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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