'Unicorn' Derrick Henry could be key to putting Ravens on Super Bowl throne

The news that Derrick Henry had signed with the Baltimore Ravens hit the AFC with the same power the All-Pro running back uses to hit linebackers. It looked like a jolt to the power structure of the conference. He seemed like the perfect piece to close the gap with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Except that Henry is 30 years old — an age that has never been kind to NFL running backs. And he’s already had 2,030 carries in his eight seasons, which is a lot of pounding to take even for his imposing, 6-foot-3, 247-pound frame. The Ravens think Henry is the key to helping them power past the Chiefs and reach their first Super Bowl in 12 years.

But as the Ravens open training camp in Owings Mills, Maryland this week, they know it’ll only work if Henry can find a way to defy age and time.

“We’re talking about a guy who has missed very little time in his career,” said Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta. “He’s kind of a unicorn, to be honest, (with) his combination of speed, power, durability. Those kinds of guys are rare. They are just different from everybody else.”

His new teammate concurs.

“When he puts his pads on, that’s when he becomes that demon — one of the best backs of our generation,” Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith said during minicamp in June. “And I still see he has a lot of tread left on the tire.”

Just how much tread is actually left will likely tell the tale of the Ravens’ season. They were the NFL’s best-rushing team last year — a position they’ve held three times in the last five seasons. But they’ve done it mostly on the strength of quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has had to lead the way for a group of running backs (J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, Kenton Mitchell) that has been continually decimated by injuries.

And while they performed well, none of them compared to Henry — a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time rushing champion who has 9,502 yards and 90 rushing touchdowns, more than any other running back since he entered the league in 2016. The Ravens have had only one running back top 1,000 yards since Jackson arrived in 2018 (Mark Ingram with 1,018 yards in 2019).

Henry has topped 1,000 yards in five of the last six seasons. That includes a stunning 2,027 yards back in 2020 and 1,167 just last year.

There isn’t a more intimidating running back in the league or one that runs with more power. That’s why the Ravens targeted him in free agency after trying to trade for him last season, and signed him to a two-year, $16 million deal with $9 million guaranteed. But there’s risk because they also got a back who led the NFL in carries in four of the last five seasons. He’s had 1,529 carries in the last five years alone, and that includes the 2021 season when he missed nine games with a fractured foot.

There’s no way around this: It’s a lot of wear and tear.

“I watched the wear and tear that he put on defenses — ours included — over the years,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said during minicamp last month. “He’s come out, he’s in great shape, he’s a stickler for details, knowing the plays, and he’s moving really well. I can’t wait to see him in action.”

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How much action will he actually see, though, before it all takes a toll? The Ravens aren’t just leaning on blind faith that their new, aging running back will survive another season. And Henry isn’t either. His financial advisor, Pete Kotos, recently revealed to The Athletic that Henry spends more than $240,000 every year on body maintenance. He follows a remarkably strict diet, gets his meals prepared by his personal chef, and works out several times per day.

But he still has history working against him. According to NFL Research, there have been 22 running backs to change teams after recording 2,000 career carries, and only three have rewarded their new team with a 1,000-yard season. And while there are plenty of running backs who topped 1,000 yards in a season after turning 30, it’s still not the norm.

Then again, neither is Henry — at least not from what the Ravens have seen.

“One thing about Derrick — one of many things: He works,” Jackson said. “He is a worker, 100 percent every day, locked in, asks questions, texts his coach at night, ready to go at practice, in the weight room, training room. This guy is a true pro, ultimate pro.”

“He is a guy that hates doing anything wrong. Like, it literally pisses him off to do anything wrong,” said Ravens running backs coach Willie Taggart. “He wants to be the best, and he wants to know everything that’s going on. For a guy that’s played this long and at the level that he’s played at to come in here and still be hungry, still wanting to learn … He is not coming in here feeling like, ‘Hey, I’ve done this. I’ve done that.’ You don’t see any of that.”

Henry does seem and sound re-energized after a rough last two seasons in Tennessee. He might have run for 2,705 yards and 25 touchdowns for the Titans in that span, but their offense cratered under the weight of quarterback issues, finishing in the bottom five both seasons as the team went a combined 13-21.

His experience in Baltimore will be a lot different. Jackson is the best two-way quarterback in the NFL — maybe one of the greatest in the history of the NFL. He threw for 3,678 yards last season while running for 821 more. And even though the Ravens’ committee of beleaguered backs ran for 1,696 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, none of them really took the focus off Jackson when defensive game plans were set.

Now those defenses will have an impossible choice, whether Jackson lines up under center with Henry behind him, or they go to the shotgun for the Ravens’ familiar run-pass option (RPO) sets. Two of the NFL’s most dangerous weapons will be lined up within a few yards of each other, and where the ball goes will be anyone’s guess.

“It definitely brings a different aspect, because he is a dual-threat quarterback, and he’s as dangerous with his legs as he is with his arm,” Henry said. “It’s going to be fun and a breath of fresh air not being the center of attention.”

But that wasn’t his only reason for signing with Baltimore. Joining the Ravens gives Henry a chance to complete some unfinished business. Henry and the Titans got their shot at the Chiefs in January 2020, when they lost 35-24 in the AFC Championship Game. Henry was held to just 69 yards — including only seven in the second half.

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That was reminiscent of what happened to the Ravens last January, when their offense became alarmingly one-dimensional as they lost the AFC championship, 17-10, to the Chiefs. They might have had the NFL’s top rushing attack last season, but the Ravens only ran for 81 yards in that game. That included only 35 yards in a scoreless second half even though they never trailed by more than one touchdown.

Henry is insurance so that will never happen again, no matter how new offensive coordinator Todd Monken chooses to use him. And it certainly sounds like they plan to use him a lot.

“If he carries it 300 times, we’re having a hell of a year. I can tell you that,” Monken said. “It means we’re running it a lot. It means we’re up in games. We want him to finish. We want him to be the closer.”

That’s what Henry wants, too. And he intends to do it, despite the pull of history and age and the beating his body has taken over the years. He knows that many wonder if he can continue playing at his usual high level. He acknowledges many doubt whether, at his age, he can even last at all.

But on the day he was introduced as a Raven, he came ready with an answer.

“Tell them to keep watching,” he said.

The whole league will be watching closely. Of that, there’s no doubt.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.