The offseason of disrespecting Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry continued after it was revealed that he was the No. 25 player on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2023 list, which is voted on by the players.
The truly laughable part comes not only from his overall ranking but from the fact that he finished as the third-highest ranked running back on the list.
To make matters even more outlandish, Henry finished behind a running back who has never even eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in his career (Austin Ekeler) and another who really broke out for the first time last season (Josh Jacobs).
Now, this isn’t meant to disrespect those two ball-carriers in any sort of way, as they’re fantastic in their own right. But to put them over King Henry is honestly absurd.
Let’s use Jacobs as an example. Yes, the Alabama product is coming off a season in which he finished the year as the rushing champion after recording 1,653 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.
For context, that would be 115 more rushing yards and one fewer touchdown than Henry totaled a year ago (1,538 yards, 13 touchdowns).
However, what doesn’t get discussed is the fact that Jacobs accomplished this feat in one extra game while also facing stacked boxes on just 20.59 percent of his carries, approximately 17.52 percent lower than Henry’s league-leading percentage of 38.11 percent (minimum 220 carries).
Now, compare that to 2022, where Henry faced the HIGHEST stacked box percentage of his career (38.11%).
For comparison, Nick Chubb only faced similar defensive fronts on 28.81% of his carries, while Josh Jacobs (2022 rushing champion) faced stacked boxes on 20.59% of his rushes pic.twitter.com/aHl5sCbpwE
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) July 30, 2023
To make Henry’s 2022 season even more impressive, he accomplished all this while playing with a horrendous offensive coordinator, a dismal offensive line, three different quarterbacks, and zero consistency in the passing game.
Truth be told, it just feels like people are growing fatigued when it comes to Henry’s greatness, which is why they constantly try to downplay what he’s doing, even though it’s legitimately one of the greatest running back primes in NFL history if you base your opinion off facts and not feelings.
🗣 STOP DOWNPLAYING DERRICK HENRY’s GREATNESS 🗣
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) June 21, 2023
Simply put: outside of Henry, there isn’t a single running back in the league who would’ve totaled nearly 2,000 yards from scrimmage under the same circumstances that Henry dealt with a year ago.
If you ask me, that makes the Titans running back the clear-cut best ball-carrier in football, regardless of what some silly list says.
