In his debut season with the Ravens, Derrick Henry is off to the finest start of his distinguished nine-year career. With stiff arms and powerful runs, Henry has a league-best running average of 124.7 yards per game through seven games.
He is on track for 2,120 yards rushing, which would break Eric Dickerson’s 40-year record. Dickerson rushed for 2,105 yards for the Rams in 1984.
“I don’t really try to think about that too much,” Henry replied when asked about Dickerson’s record. “Just focus on me doing my job and becoming better each week. I don’t really get into statistics. I am focused on the team’s ambitions.”
Henry’s 873 running yards are the most in the first seven games of a season since DeMarco Murray’s 913 in 2014. Murray finished with 1,845 yards rushing.
If Henry manages to shatter Dickerson’s record, he will have earned it. In his final ten games, Henry will face eight run defenses ranked in the top half of the league, including the Cleveland Browns’ 15th-ranked run defense on Sunday.
But Henry has proven he can beat the odds. His 873 yards are the second most for a player 30 or older through seven games in NFL history, trailing only Walter Payton’s 875 yards in 1984.
Henry said it doesn’t matter whether his age discouraged teams from signing him in free agency seven months ago.
“I went to the team I was supposed to go to and that I wanted to go to,” says Henry. “I can’t worry about what others say. I do what works for Derrick Henry, and I am a Baltimore Raven. I want to try my best to help us win every week.”
Can Derrick Henry, the Baltimore Ravens running back, break the NFL’s single-season rushing record?
When asked the question, Lamar Jackson simply nodded his head.
“It’s there,” Jackson stated following Wednesday’s practice. “I believe he has a strong chance of doing that. I believe he can do it. I think he can do it.”
Four years earlier, Henry rushed for 2,027 yards, falling 94 yards short of Dickerson’s goal. On his current pace, Henry would be the first player in NFL history to have two 2,000-yard rushing seasons.
Even NFL defenders find it difficult to bring down Henry, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 247 pounds. However, in an ESPN interview, NBA great Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves stated that he feels he can play free safety and tackle Henry.
“He’s crazy,” a smiling Henry remarked of Edwards, who stands 6-4 and weighs 230 pounds. “Everyone has an imagination. We were able to set up a training camp where basketball players could come out and put on these pads to see if they could make it through.”
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