Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are peaking The Ravens' addition of Derrick Henry was met with much fanfare this offseason. How could a backfield of the hulking running back and Lamar Jackson be anything but cool? Given that hype, a 13-carry, 46-yard debut in the season opener was met with great disappointment, even if he did find the end zone. For all the excitement, it looked like Henry didn’t quite fit or, certainly, wasn’t the unique advantage he was billed to be for the already productive Ravens run game.
Something I started pointing out after that game was that Henry and Jackson had two very different styles as runners. For most of Jackson’s career, he’s done most of his damage as a designed runner lined up in the shotgun on option plays. This allows Jackson to let his instincts take over, and exploit his burst both to the edge when there’s space and right up the gut on gap concepts.
Meanwhile, the Titans with Henry as the feature back were an under-center offense. Henry is at his best when he can build up speed before he hits the line of scrimmage to hit the holes when they open on zone runs. The equation wasn’t just as simple as, "Drop one cool player next to another and let the fantasy points flow" .
.. at least not at first.
While everything outlined there sounds like an oil-and-water conundrum, it merely called for an adjustment period. We want everything to be instant gratification in our world but sometimes, there needs to be a little build up, especia.
