Why Derrick henry is the last of his Kind at the RB POSITION…
Derrick Henry has arguably been the best RB in the NFL for the past half-decade, as his dominance is something we’ve only seen a few running backs accomplish in the history of the league. Though he is still an outstanding RB, it’s clear that The King is nearing the end of his prime. I still expect him to run well for a couple of years, but the 2,000-yard Derrick Henry days are over. With that being said, Derrick Henry is the last of his kind at the RB position in this unique way!
The Titans have built not only their team around Derrick Henry but also a culture. When you think about the Tennessee Titans, you think about a tough, gritty, and physical unit that is trying to punch you in the mouth every play. Tennessee has done so by building a team around a running back, and that is just never gonna happen again in the history of the NFL. We already know how mistreated running backs are in today’s landscape, so nobody is going to build around the position ever again. There is only so much money and effort a team can give, and investing all of that to build around a running back just doesn’t make sense anymore. The only hope for this type of situation to happen again is Bijan Robinson. The Falcons’ passing attack isn’t the best, and Bijan can do it all out of the backfield. Arthur Smith also believes in the RB position a lot, as he was the OC of the Titans when Henry had his most prominent years. Now that we’ve established that Henry is the last of his kind, let’s talk about why he is. Why are teams moving away from paying these big-time backs and building teams and cultures around them??
From 1970-2010, teams would build around running backs all the time, and win Super Bowls doing so. Emmitt Smith’s Cowboys and Jerome Bettis’ Steelers are two prime examples that come to mind. The Titans tried to mirror this philosophy by building around Henry, and it’s gone decently well. Tennessee has won two AFC South Titles and have played in an AFC Championship Game in the Henry Era. Though they’ve had terrific regular season success and a little postseason luck, Tennessee hasn’t gotten over the hump, and that is exactly the reason why the building around a running back experiment is over in the NFL. You can’t win a Super Bowl anymore with a running back as your focal point, it’s the sad and harsh reality of the position. Investing your resources into a Franchise QB is just the better way of creating a long-term winner. This is going to lead teams to focus more and more on other positions and will cause Derrick Henry to be the Final RB that a team built around in NFL history…
