Darrell Henderson carried the ball 15 times for a season-low 45 yards on Sunday versus the Detroit Lions. On the surface, Henderson had a disappointing game as he was unable to find many running lanes for the Los Angeles Rams in their win over the Lions.
While you would like to see Henderson average more than 3 yards per attempt, it’s a positive sign to see him still handling a workhorse role for the Rams. Even with the preseason acquisition of Sony Michel, Henderson has garnered 63% of the total carries by Rams running backs this season.
Those numbers are a bit misleading due to Henderson missing Week 3 with an injury that allowed Michel to carry the ball 20 times. Outside of that Week 3 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Michel has only 36 carries in the other six weeks, including only two on Sunday versus the Lions.
And looking at the snap counts from Week 7, Henderson played 88% of the snaps, while Michel played just 12%.
Whenever Cam Akers went down with a season-ending Achilles injury, some were hesitant to consider Henderson a workhorse back, especially with the arrival of Michel. However, Henderson has done nothing but earn the trust of Sean McVay to handle the lion’s share of the backfield work through the first seven weeks.
Following Sunday’s victory over Detroit, Henderson leads Los Angeles with 417 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 96 attempts. He’s also been involved in the passing game, hauling in 15 passes for 138 yards and a score on 22 targets. It’s clear that when Henderson is healthy, McVay is going to lean on him to shoulder a heavy workload for the Rams.
