Prior to the 2019 season, many experts believed that the ridiculous pace Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry finished the 2018 season on simply wasn’t sustainable.
Not only did he prove them wrong, he won a rushing title with 1,540 yards. Henry’s 16 rushing touchdowns was tied for the best in the league, also.
Going into 2020, Pro Football Focus believes The King will once again reign supreme and has Henry pegged as the rushing leader, with a projection of 1,239 rushing yards.
As PFF’s Jeff Ratcliffe notes, Henry was able to finish in the top five at his position in multiple scoring formats in fantasy football — including PPR — despite only catching 18 passes the entire season.
That was still possible because Henry bludgeoned opposing defenses to the tune of 102.7 yards per game — over nine yards per game better than any other back — on a league-leading 303 carries.
Henry should warrant first-round consideration in fantasy leagues in 2020, if for nothing else than the sheer volume he sees and an elite run-blocking group in front of him.
The only concern would be Henry’s rushing production regressing a bit from such a high number and him not being able to make it up in the receiving department.
Ratcliffe points out the departure of Dion Lewis as being a reason Henry could see more receiving opportunities, but Tennessee is eventually going to add another third-down back after cutting Lewis, who was wholly ineffective during his time in Nashville.
No matter what, Henry has a great chance to at least come close to replicating what he did in 2019 and should be considered an RB1 across all formats.
