Plenty of experts have jumped on the “Derrick Henry will regress” train in 2020, but one outlet sees things happening a bit differently for the Tennessee Titans running back.
The folks over at The Huddle have released their fantasy football projections for the 2020 season, and Henry will reign supreme in both rushing yards and touchdowns in their eyes for a second straight season.
In fact, their projection has Henry totaling 1,600 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground, both of which are more than what he finished with in 2019 (1,540 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns).
The Huddle’s projection of 100 receiving yards is a bit low considering Henry totaled over 200 yards through the air last season, but when you add it all up, he’s projected to finish third in fantasy points among running backs.
Only the Carolina Panthers’ Christian McCaffrey and the Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliot are projected to score more; however, if Henry comes closer to his 2019 receiver production, he’d finish as RB2.
So, is this a realistic projection for the 26-year-old?
Short answer: absolutely.
For starters, Henry didn’t really start taking off last season until the Titans saw an improvement in their passing game after making the switch from Marcus Mariota to Ryan Tannehill, which helped take pressure off him.
In the first six games of the season with Mariota, Henry broke the 100-yard mark once. In his last nine games, all of which had Tannehill under center, the Alabama product went over the century mark five times.
It’s also important to note that Henry missed one game with a hamstring injury and was hampered by it in at least one other. Had he played a full 16-game slate and been healthy throughout, he would have easily eclipsed 1,600 yards.
Fantasy owners in point-per-reception leagues might be a bit wary of Henry because of his lack of involvement in the passing game, but as he proved last season, Henry can still be an elite fantasy back no matter the format.
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