How well does Derrick Henry fit in in Baltimore?

• Henry is the master of the outside zone and the duo: Among the 118 running backs who have had at least 100 carries in a dual or outside zone since 2016, Henry ranks second with a 91.9 PFF rushing grade.

• The Ravens have been mainly deploying counterattacks and powerful attacks recently: Henry didn’t see much fast break or power play at Tennessee, nor did he generate much numbers on those running concepts.

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

We won’t have to wait long to see one of the most exciting free agent acquisitions of 2024 in action. Derrick HenryBaltimore’s new running back will make his Ravens debut in Thursday night’s opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. He’ll play in Baltimore’s offense with the two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson has a lot of potential, it may take some adjustments, either on Henry’s part or on the Ravens’ offense.

Since joining the league in 2016, Henry is the fifth-most snaps played by any running back — and will likely surpass 4,000 snaps in the regular season on Thursday night. Of the 64 running backs who have played at least 1,500 snaps in that span, the Alabama product’s 95.0 PFF grade is the highest.

He was particularly effective on two running concepts the Titans relied heavily on: the duo and the outside zone. The former is a downhill running scheme where Henry can reach full speed by the time he gets to the line of scrimmage and a running scheme, if properly blocked, that isolates the running back on the opposing cornerback, which is a favorable matchup if your running back is as powerful as Derrick Henry. On the other hand, the outside zone is more of a horizontal running scheme where the running back has to make a cut after reading the blocks. And then he could be gone.

Among the 118 running backs who have had at least 100 carries in a duo or outside zone since 2016, Henry ranks 10th.th with 4.9 yards per carry and second with a 91.9 PFF rushing grade. He gained at least 10 yards on 12.5% ​​of those carries. However, the Ravens have not utilized those running concepts lately, either under former offensive coordinator Greg Roman or last year with Todd Monken. In recent seasons, Baltimore has relied heavily on the use of pulling offensive linemen, something they have done more of than any other team in the NFL. Over the past three seasons, they have led the league in both the use of power (one pulling offensive lineman) and the use of fast break (more than one pulling player from the back end, including an offensive lineman).

Henry didn’t see much fast break or power in Tennessee, nor did he generate much in the way of numbers on those running concepts. Among the 39 running backs with at least 100 such carries since 2016, he ranks just 27th.th in yards per carry (4.3) on such plays. Compared to his 12.5% ​​rate of 10-plus yard carries on duals and outside zones, he gained at least 10 yards on just 8.8% of power and counter-run runs. It will be interesting to see if Monken adjusts his offense’s running philosophy and uses fewer runs with pulling linemen – or if Henry can quickly adapt to this blocking scheme in 2024.

Another factor to consider is the quality of Henry and the quarterback play. Lamar Jackson will complement each other and how much pressure they can put on defenses. The best way to take advantage of that has been to use the read option, which the Ravens have deployed more often (470 times) than any other NFL team over the past three seasons.

The read option may not play to Henry’s strengths in the run game, as it delays him from reaching his top speed and makes him hesitate at the snap point. Sixty-one running backs have carried the ball at least 50 times after a read option since 2016, and Henry ranks just 29th with 4.2 yards per carry on those carries. He’s picked up at least 10 yards on just eight of those 107 carries, which is just 7.5 percent.

Overall, Henry is still among the best running backs in the entire NFL and will be a part of one of the best offenses in the league. But at a deeper level, we can expect there to be some growing pains and that this running game won’t be as effective over the first two weeks of the 2024 season as many think.