Every single year, football fans and media members play this game where they try to crown a new running back as the next big thing.
Whether it’s theSaquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, or even Bijan Robinson this year, everybody constantly tries to get ahead of the curve by trying to identify the next best ball-carrier in the NFL.
Buy Titans TicketsYet, four weeks into the NFL season, the top two running backs are the same guys that it’s arguably been since the start of 2018.
According to Pro Football Focus, Henry (83,6) and the San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey (84.8) are the two highest-graded running backs in the league after the first quarter of the year.
The highest-graded RBs this season 😤 pic.twitter.com/bhJPzTIZh4
— PFF (@PFF) October 4, 2023
The funny thing is, Henry hasn’t even really hit his stride yet, something he began doing in Week 4. McCaffrey, on the other hand, has been a juggernaut, yet his grade is only slightly higher.
The Titans running back is coming off his most impressive day on the ground this season, carrying the rock a total of 22 times for 122 yards and one rushing touchdown in the team’s Week 4 win over the Bengals.
Henry’s touchdown run was actually one of the most impressive and unlikeliest scoring plays of the season.
According to Next Gen Stats, there was only a slim 2.6 percent probability that The King would find the end zone as he evaded (ran through) numerous would-be tacklers and outran defenders to the goal line, reaching a top speed of 20.05 miles per hour.
The Alabama legend also rushed for 26 yards over expectation on the play and 1.18 yards over expectation/attempt, which was the third- and fourth-best among running backs in Week 4 in those categories, respectively.
Henry is accomplishing all of this while once again facing the highest stacked-box percentage in the NFL (minimum 50 carries), seeing eight or more defenders an absurd 46.58 percent of the time.
In total, Henry now has a whopping 35 games with 100 or more rushing yards, tied for the fourth-most in franchise history. Even more impressive is the fact that he’s produced 8,469 total yards over his last 68 games, 7,460 of which have come on the ground.
The former Offensive Player of the Year winner will now be tasked with trying to help the Titans get their first divisional win of the year on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
