Four Downs: Derrick Henry bigger than all Steelers ILBs, faster in games than all NFL WRs

1. Astounding ridiculousness

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin used the words “astounding” and “ridiculous” to describe Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, whom Tomlin’s team will have the task of stopping during Sunday’s AFC showdown in Nashville.

Tomlin also pitched the analogy of trying to tackle Bud Dupree in speaking of Henry — and he’s onto something when it comes to the former Heisman Trophy winner’s size. The players among the 53 on the Steelers roster who are closest to Henry’s listed weight of 247 pounds are outside linebackers: Ola Adeniyi and T.J. Watt. Only 21 of 53 players on the Steelers’ active roster are heavier than Henry. All are either offensive linemen, defensive linemen, outside linebackers or tight ends.

As a basis of comparison for his position, the four running backs on the Steelers’ roster average 218.8 pounds, almost 30 fewer than Henry. The mean weight of the 30 running backs at this past combine was 212 pounds with just two weighing at more than 226.

But, as Tomlin lamented, Henry’s freakishness isn’t just in his size — it’s in the speed that he brings in that XXL package. Henry ran the 40-yard dash 4.54 seconds at his combine workout, but he plays faster than that. There’s proof: Henry reached 21.62 mph on his 94-yard touchdown run during last week’s victory against the Houston Texans. That’s the fifth-fastest any player has run with the ball in his hands on the field this season. Only two players had been clocked faster. No receiver in the NFL this season has reached Henry’s speed.

2. More Henry

According to Next Gen Stats, of Henry’s 264 yards from scrimmage during last week’s win, 140 were “over expectation,” the third-most for any player in any game over the past three seasons. (The formula for “expected rushing yards” is intended to calculate how many yards is a ball carrier expected to gain on a given play based on the relative location, speed and direction of blockers and defenders).

Henry also owns the two highest-rushing totals for yards “inside the tackles” since Next Gen Stats began tracking that in 2016. No. 2 on that list is the 177 yards (on 10 rushes) Henry had last week. And if you think Henry’s yards were cheap, think again. Only three running backs in the NFL during Week 6 faced a higher percentage of carries in which there were eight defenders “in the box.” Henry faced such a look 40.9% of the time against the Texans. For the season, just six of 42 qualifying backs have faced eight defenders near the line of scrimmage as much as Henry has (25.5%).

Finally, the NFL record for rushing yards in a 16-game season is 2,105 by Eric Dickerson in 1984. Henry would rank third all-time in rushing in a single season if you took his past 16 games (including playoffs). Dating to his game Oct. 27, 2019, through last week, Henry has 2,068 rushing yards in 16 games.

3. PLAY-MAX-TION

Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill has developed a reputation as a passer who thrives in play-action as a result of having Henry. That’s partially true. Tannehill’s stats while using play-action, according to Pro Football Focus, are among the best in the league: second in yards per attempt (10.5), tied for third in touchdown passes (five), third in passing yards (669). Only two passers have more attempts in play-action this season than Tannehill — 37.8%.

But Tannehill has a much higher completion percentage (73.4% vs. 64.1%) when not using play-action. He has zero interceptions when not using play-action (he has five in play-action) and a slightly lower passer rating when in play-action.

During last week’s win, 16 of Tannehill’s 41 pass attempts were in play-action, and his passer rating was much better when not in it (143.3 to 75.5).

4. No dink/dunk

Tannehill is capable of his own success, regardless of Henry. He also isn’t just a “game manager” who dumps the ball off. Next Gen Stats reports he has 38 pass attempts with a 73.7% completion percentage and 13.7 yards per attempt on passes thrown between 11-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Tannehill also has the best completion percentage (66.7%) on throws 20 or more yards downfield of any season-long starting quarterback (per PFF).