Derrick Henry's two-year, $16 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens already looks like the best signing of the NFL offseason.
When the Ravens signed the 30-year-old Henry, few in the NFL world had qualms: the league's best rushing attack was adding the most dominant running back of the last five years.
Sure, Henry was 30, with a lot of carries under his belt, and he might have historically lined up in different formations than Lamar Jackson, but it was overall a low-risk investment for a high-reward player.
So far, the fit seems even better than imagined.
Through four games, Henry has 80 carries for a league-leading 480 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, tied for the league-high. Over the past two weeks alone, Henry has run for a combined 350 yards and three touchdowns to help the Ravens pick up their first two wins of the season.
If Henry were to keep up this pace, he'd finish the season with over 2,000 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns.
It's hard to argue that any free agent has had a bigger impact on their new team.
Sure, some might dismiss adding Henry to what was already the league's best rushing attack last year. But Henry has only strengthened the Ravens' run game. The Ravens are averaging 46 more rushing yards per game than the second-best rushing offense in the league. Their 6.4 yards per rushing attempt is almost a full yard better than the next best team.
Saquon Barkley has had a strong start with the Philadelphia Eagles, but he trails Henry in rushing stats and is making about an average of $5 million more per season than Henry.
Aaron Jones has been effective for the Minnesota Vikings, but again, not as productive as Henry.
Safety Xavier McKinney has a red-hot start for the Green Bay Packers, racking up four interceptions, though he is also making almost double what Henry makes on average. And a safety can only affect so much during the game.
Perhaps the player with the strongest argument for best offseason signing is Sam Darnold with the Vikings. The 27-year-old QB signed a one-year, $10 million deal with Minnesota, got thrust into the starting spot because of an injury to rookie JJ McCarthy, and is now an MVP candidate, with 11 touchdowns to 3 interceptions and a 4-0 record.
We won't argue that Henry tops Darnold's value. The lone concern is that Darnold's performance so far is far superior to his career track record. We'll see if Darnold regresses in the coming weeks.
So far, Henry has only taken his elite production up a notch, at an age when running backs typically fall off. As Tyler Brooke of the 33rd Team detailed, Henry's rushing success at his age, with his career carries, is unprecedented.
According to Brooke, since reaching 2,000 career carries, Henry is averaging 6 yards per rush and a touchdown every 15.9 carries. Marshawn Lynch is the second most productive player after 2,000 carries, and he only averaged 4.2 yards per rush and a touchdown every 25.2 attempts.
Furthermore, Henry is the easing the load on Lamar Jackson. Over the last two games, Jackson has only thrown 33 combined passes. And he's been remarkably efficient, in part because defenses are gearing up to stop the run — Jackson has completed 25 of those 33 passes, good for 75.7% and a 137 passer rating.
And because Henry wears down defenses and helps the Ravens run down the clock, it's kept Baltimore's defense fresh.
After Henry's quiet Week 1, head coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens didn't plan to over-work Henry and give him the ball 30 times per game. That was either deception on Harbaugh's part, or he has already changed his stance — over the last three weeks, Henry is averaging 24 touches per game.
The Ravens will need to lighten Henry's workload as the season goes on. That could mean more touches for the highly efficient Justice Hill and some touches for Keaton Mitchell when he comes off the IR. Baltimore would surely love to have Henry fresh for the postseason, when opposing defenses are battered from 17 games.
Still, Henry has helped Baltimore right the ship from an 0-2 start, and is making their investment in him look genius.
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