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Ben Arthur
AFC South Reporter
The possibility that this could be Derrick Henry’s last season with the Tennessee Titans has loomed since the spring, but the feeling seemed to reach a crescendo last week.
Henry had 16 carries for an abysmal nine yards in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Houston Texans, a team he has historically dominated. It marked his lowest rushing total since October of 2017.
After the game, which eliminated the Titans from playoff contention, he acknowledged for the first time publicly that this could be his last season in Nashville.
Tennessee (5-9) has two home games remaining, starting this week against the Seattle Seahawks (7-7).
“Definitely today (Sunday) you had that feeling,” Henry said of his Titans’ tenure possibly ending. “We had hope of kind of slipping in there (into the playoffs) and then being eliminated knowing there’s three games left.”
Henry’s future in Nashville is not so black and white.
It’s in question for obvious reasons: he’s an aging player at a short shelf-life position that’s been devalued in the NFL. He turns 30 in January. His contract expires in March. And the Titans have a natural successor on their roster in dynamic third-round rookie Tyjae Spears, who’s fourth among rookie running backs with 676 scrimmage yards. The former Tulane star has even played more offensive snaps than Henry (470 to Henry’s 467). A complement to Spears could be acquired in the draft or free agency.
Henry is not the player he once was — he’s averaging a career-low 3.8 yards per carry; his 3.4 yards-after-carry mark is his worst since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, according to Next Gen Stats — but it’s impossible to ignore how the decline of the Titans’ run blocking has impacted his play.
Adjusted line yards is an advanced metric that quantifies offensive-line responsibility on running back carries. Since 2020, as far back as FTN Data goes, Tennessee’s ranking in adjusted…
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Publish date : 2023-12-20 22:40:10
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