The Ravens helped kick off the 2024 NFL season Thursday night, this year with Derrick Henry in the backfield alongside Lamar Jackson.
Except for all the snaps that he wasn’t.
Ran Carthon seemed resolute in his decision to let Henry hit the market after last year, in part due to the new direction of his team’s offense. But another reason why Tennessee moved on was on full display in the first game of the year.
Here are some stats from his first game in purple and gold. See if you can spot the Ravens' issue:
On the first drive of the game, the Ravens ran on the Chiefs 5 times with a RB: all Henry. Their next 5 runs came across the span of the next six drives.
In the first half, Henry and backup RB Justice Hill split snaps nearly 50/50. Derrick carried the ball 8 times and ran 4 routes on his share of snaps, and Justice carried the ball 1 time and ran 12 routes with his share. Hill was on the field often for 2nd down, and was a lock to be out there on 3rd. If the Ravens were looking to pass, Hill was almost certainly the back.
On the night, Henry managed 46 yards on just 13 carries, an average of 3.5 YPC.
In case it’s not clear: Henry can be a one-dimensional, limiting player if the team around him isn’t built in a specific way.
When Derrick is on the field, the defense is expecting run. When he’s not, they’re expecting pass. And at least in the opener, that’s mostly what they got.
When you’re built like the 2019-2021 Titans, that’s perfectly fine. When you’re designed to be a smash-mouth, road-grating, run-heavy unit, Henry is a cheat code. When you’re willing to pound him into the back of the line 25 times a game, live with 2-3 yards per carry, and bank on 2nd half chunk plays and breaking “the big one”, Derrick is your guy.
But do you want to be a modern, dynamic offense? Do you want to be creative in the passing game? Do you want to keep defenses guessing?
That’s just not what Henry brings to the table.
And in this specific instance, if you’re a team with a suspect offensive line and a dynamic runner in your quarterback, Derrick Henry may not add a ton to your offense. Sure, he’s gonna get his. And he may end up having a really good season once again.
But does he make you more dynamic as an offensive unit? I don’t know that he does. Knowing what we know about the direction the Titans chose to go in Henry’s wake—two similarly multi-faceted backs—it’s safe to say Tennessee recognized the poor fit he would be in their new style of offense.
The Ravens will spend the 2024 season trying to figure out how—or if—he fits into theirs. Perhaps they figure it out, and Henry’s reign of terror on stacked boxes continues apace. I’ve met the guy, and I’ve watched him play for a long time. So I’m certainly not putting it past him, even this deep into his career.
That’s not what’s in question here. The skepticism is around the Ravens offensive design, and their ability to utilize him. John Harbaugh and company may spend much of the year frustrated, trying to fit this square peg into a round hole.
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