How Ravens’ Derrick Henry is marching toward a historic season for running backs

Four-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry is once again leading the NFL in rushing yards (704) and rushing touchdowns (eight) through his first six weeks as a Baltimore Raven. The natural reaction to these facts for the average NFL fan is something along the lines of, “That’s King Henry doing King Henry things.”

That wouldn’t be doing Henry’s 2024 season justice for a few reasons. Let’s get into them now. His 2024 season is only the ninth season in which a player totaled at least 700 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in the first six games of the season, per CBS Sports Research. It’s also Henry’s second such start to a season, putting him in a two-person club with himself and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown. 

700 Rush Yds & 8 Rush TDs in First 6 Games of Season

* Won NFL MVP

Let’s dig a little deeper. Per CBS Sports Research, there have been 1,915 instances of a running back with 50 or more rushing attempts through Week 6 since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger. Only two have led all running backs in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and yards per rush through Week 6 since 1970: 2024 Henry (704 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns on 119 carries for 5.9 yards per carry) and 1998 Terrell Davis (865 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns on 144 carries for 6.0 yards per carry). That 1998 season catapulted Davis into the Hall of Fame as he led the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in both the regular and postseason en route to a Super Bowl title.

Henry, this season, is in line to do something for the third time — win the rushing triple crown (lead the NFL in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns) — something Davis never did once. If Henry maintains his current pace and does so, he will join Hall of Famers in Steve Van Buren (three times) and Brown, a player whom a certain generation claims to be the best football player they ever saw, (four times) as the only players to accomplish the feat thrice. However, Henry can also create his own club as the first player in NFL history to win a rushing triple crown in his 30’s at the age of 30 in 2024. 

Led All RB in Rush Attempts, Rush Yards, Rush TD & Yards/Rush

(Through Week 6 Since 1970; Min. 50 Rush Attempts)

How Henry is turning back the clock

How is Henry still playing like it’s 2021, and he is 27-years-old in 2024 when he is a dreaded 30-years-old?  Well, he is aided by a historic support system in his quarterback Lamar Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP (2019 and 2023). Jackson, who has consecutive 300-yard passing games the last two weeks, is currently the quarterback rushing yards leader this season with 403 rushing yards, which also ranks as the eighth-most among all NFL players. 

Opposing defenses have to respect the threat of Jackson on every handoff because there’s a chance he could pull the football, like Lucy does to Charlie Brown, and keep it himself for a big gain. At this very moment, Jackson and Henry are on pace to become the first quarterback-running back duo in the Super Bowl era, since 1966, to finish in the top 10 in rushing yards in the same season. Playing alongside Jackson and on a Ravens team that has a 74.0 run-blocking grade, the fifth-best in the NFL per Pro Football Focus, has Henry primed to sprint toward an all-time rushing season and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.