Darrell Henderson Jr. entered his rookie season with a lot of hype. He was expected to have a significant role as a change-of-pace back behind Todd Gurley, while also contributing as a receiver.
Needless to say, neither of those things happened in Week 1. Henderson played two snaps, both of which came in the fourth quarter. He carried it once for no gain and then ran a route as a receiver but wasn’t targeted.
The way Sean McVay made it sound, Henderson wasn’t even the Rams’ first option on those plays. Gurley was gassed after getting four carries on that drive and Malcolm Brown was getting an IV for dehydration.
Henderson was quickly dropped by a lot of fantasy teams, and on Friday, McVay explained that his role will grow as he gains experience.
“The biggest thing is just watching those guys in the room that he has to use as example of – ‘This is what it looks like to do right,’ with Todd Gurley, Malcolm Brown. Really, with him, he’s a young player that we have a lot of confidence in and looking forward to seeing a very bright future for Darrell. Right now he’s continuing to get more and more confidence, get more experience and as he does those things, you might see his opportunities grow.”
It’ll be hard for Henderson to find snaps with the way the Rams used Gurley and Brown. They were almost 1A and 1B on Sunday against Carolina with Gurley receiving 14 carries and Brown 11.
There aren’t a lot of snaps to go around, especially with Los Angeles rarely using two running backs at the same time. Time will tell exactly how much the Rams will use Henderson, but as of now, it doesn’t sound like he has much of a role.
