• Derrick Henry, unsurprisingly, wears out defenses: Through six games, he leads all running backs in the fourth quarter in carries (34), rushing yards (184) and yards after contact (114).
• The 30-year-old is showing no signs of slowing: Henry currently leads the NFL with 710 rushing yards, almost 100 more than Jordan Mason in second place and almost 200 more than Josh Jacobs in third place.
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Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
The Baltimore Orioles were one of the best teams in baseball in 2024, earning one of the best records in the league despite much of their team being barely of legal drinking age. But among their flaws was that closer Felix Bautista missed the entire season due to injury, and his replacement, Craig Kimbrel, struggled mightily to the point that he was designated for assignment before the postseason.
Just a short walk away, the Baltimore Ravens are showing how it's done.
While football doesn’t have a designated “closer” role like baseball, Derrick Henry has effectively been that guy for the Ravens this season. A closer in football is essentially a running back who can maintain their energy late into a game and take advantage of a gassed defense to pick up crucial first downs and chew up clock to put a game away, something Henry has excelled at throughout his career.
A future Hall of Famer from his time with the Tennessee Titans, the 30-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down in his first year in Baltimore. The Ravens created a lot of buzz when they brought in Henry on a two-year, $16 million deal to pair with Lamar Jackson, forming arguably the most dangerous running duo in football. Through six weeks, that move has paid off splendidly.
Henry currently leads the NFL with 710 rushing yards, almost 100 more than Jordan Mason in second place and almost 200 more than Josh Jacobs in third place. Henry’s 419 yards after contact also leads the league and trails only eight other backs’ total rushing yards. Henry’s 90.5 PFF rushing grade is tied with Kenneth Walker III for best in the league, but Henry's comes on 70 more rushing attempts. He also leads the way with eight rushing touchdowns and 35 first downs, is tied for fifth with 21 forced missed tackles and ranks second with 14 explosive runs. All of this has come at an age when a running back’s production should be declining.
Highest-Graded RBs in 2024
Big-time numbers like these are nothing new for the 2020 Offensive Player of the Year. Since Henry entered the league in 2016, only two running backs have been more valuable: Ezekiel Elliott and Christian McCaffrey, both of whom have been worth 1.5 WAR during that stretch while Henry has been worth 1.47. The next most valuable running back is Alvin Kamara at 1.24, and the only other two backs to have been worth at least a full win are Aaron Jones and Joe Mixon.
But it’s the fourth quarter when Henry earns his “closer” moniker. Through six games, he leads all running backs in the fourth quarter in carries (34), rushing yards (184) and yards after contact (114), is tied with Zach Charbonnet for most first-down runs (nine), is tied for third in explosive runs (four) and is tied for sixth in missed tackles forced (seven).
This final-frame dominance has been a theme throughout his career. Since his rookie year in 2016, Henry is miles ahead of the next closest back in fourth-quarter carries (559; next closest is Elliott at 482), rushing yards (2,666; Elliott at 2,060), touchdowns (20; Elliott at 18), first-down carries with (120; Elliott at 117) and missed tackles forced (113; Nick Chubb at 97).
As far as stable metrics are concerned, Henry fares very well in every facet. His PFF rushing grade since 2016 comes in the 86th percentile, his missed tackles forced rate is in the 72nd percentile and his yards after contact figure is in the 97th percentile. His gap rushing grade comes in the 94th percentile, while his zone grade is in the 79th percentile. This is all including the fact that Henry’s first few seasons in the league were just pedestrian, as he shared a backfield with DeMarco Murray early in his career.
Thanks in no small part to Henry’s ability to close out games, the Ravens have rattled off four straight wins after an 0-2 start and once again look like one of the favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. At an age when running backs tend to decline dramatically, Henry has only gotten better, just as he gets better the later a game goes as the NFL’s ultimate closer.
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