The Houston Texans’ need for a running back is no secret. The team’s inability to run the football was exposed in their AFC divisional-round loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and it’s been a talking point ever since.
Houston is top-five in available salary cap space, with a current projection of $57 million, from Over the Cap, and it’s led to speculation about many of the top backs including Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, and even divisional rival Derrick Henry from the Tennessee Titans.
One outlet believes that Henry would be an excellent fit, as The 33rd Team’s Marcus Mosher went in depth on why the former Titan could be an excellent supplementary piece for C.J. Stroud.
This isn’t a perfect fit for many reasons, including the Houston Texans’ style of offense. They use a lot of shotgun and empty back sets on later downs, and their run game is predicated on wide-zone runs. But there are a lot of reasons why this could work.
First of all, no team in the NFL knows Henry better than the Texans. In 14 career games against Houston, Henry ran for 1,431 yards and 12 touchdowns. Familiarity is nice for free agents, but it shouldn’t be the selling point. This makes a ton of sense for the Texans because a dominant ground attack is the only thing this team is missing from making a deep run into the playoffs. Devin Singletary had a nice season but is also scheduled to become a free agent in March. Singletary is a good player, but his lack of size and power showed up against better defenses this season.
Under offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, the Texans used I-formation or a single back under center on 41 percent of their first down plays. Their 15 percent I-formation rate on first down was the second-highest in the NFL, only behind the Raiders. So maybe this is a better fit than most would perceive. Henry would likely be part of a committee in Houston, and it would need to pair him with a back with more passing game prowess. But adding him to an offense with a young C.J. Stroud makes a ton of sense
Mosher makes compelling arguments about the potential statistical fit for Henry as an early down addition for Houston’s run-heavy offense. He does note, fairly, that Henry likely won’t be the three-down presence he was for most of his career with the Titans. It’s possible he could be paired with someone like 2023 lead back Devin Singletary.
Henry could be a welcome addition for Texans fans who have spent the last half decade watching him terrorize the team. In their most recent contest, Houston finally had the best of Henry when DeMeco Ryans’ defense held him to just nine yards on 16 carries.
Here are the 5 best landing spots for #Titans RB Derrick Henry in free agency: https://t.co/PhlGV7can1
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) February 15, 2024
His best days may be behind him, but there would certainly be plenty of intrigue if general manager Nick Caserio was to add a name like Henry to the offensive equation that offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik will be piecing together. Fans will wait anxiously for March to see just how the team looks to help their offense take the next step.
