Darrell Henderson Jr. emerging as home-run threat for Rams run game
After starting the season with a lingering hamstring injury suffered during training camp, a healthy Darrell Henderson Jr. is finally getting an opportunity to show what he can do for the Los Angeles Rams.
And through three games, Henderson has been impressive.
“He’s a really good runner,” Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. “He runs downhill and he’s obviously super-fast and sees it well. He really fits what we do up front and has done a great job these last two weeks. I’m excited about his progression.”
Selected in the third round of the 2019 draft, Henderson finished with 114 yards and a score on 20 carries in a loss to the Buffalo Bills over the weekend -- the first time the Memphis product rushed for 100 yards in his NFL career.
Henderson said it’s the most carries he’s had in a game since his high school playing days back in his hometown of Batesville, Miss.
“Whew, I couldn’t even get up out of the bed this morning,” joked Henderson.
Henderson’s added explosiveness to L.A.’s running game, with seven runs of 10-plus yards, tied for fifth in the NFL.
The cat-quick runner said the game is starting to slow down for him with the extended reps and he’s getting more comfortable in the offense, which has resulted in more big plays.
“The other guys on the field are doing their job, so it’s my job to at least make one guy miss with 11 guys on the field,” Henderson said. “I’ve got to do a better job of that also, because they are getting me to the second level like (snaps his fingers) left and right.”
Through three games, Henderson Jr. is No. 13 in the NFL in rushing, posting 201 rushing yards on 35 carries (5.7 yards per carry) with a long of 40 yards.
The No. 14 rusher in the league also is a familiar name to Rams fans -- Todd Gurley. Now playing for the Falcons, Gurley has 197 rushing yards on 49 carries (4 yards per carry) for 0-3 Atlanta.
“I’m not surprised,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said about Henderson. “He built on a really good performance from the previous week. He ran hard, leveled his pads off. I thought the touchdown run to put us up was a big time run, just running through a lot of traffic, a lot of bodies at the goal line.
“He made a lot of plays. He’s going to continue to make a lot of plays and I’ve been very pleased with Darrell over the last couple of weeks.”
Entering the regular season, McVay said he would rely on the three-headed monster of Malcolm Brown, rookie Cam Akers and Henderson. But with Brown (finger) and Akers (ribs) nursing injuries, L.A.’s running game has been taken over by Henderson.
Since rushing for a team-high 74 yards in his team’s season-opening win over the Cowboys, Brown has just 66 rushing yards over the last two games.
For the season, Brown has 145 rushing yards, while Robert Woods has 63 rushing yards and Akers has 52 yards on the ground.
The Rams have the most rushing attempts in the league (111) and average 170 rushing yards a contest, tied for No. 4 in the NFL.
L.A. has rushed for at least 150 yards three straight games, the first time a team has done that during the McVay era for the Rams, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
“That’s our motto, we set up the pass with our run game,” defensive end Michael Brockers said. “I was telling the O-line this morning (Monday) that they did a hell of a job running the ball, knocking guys off the line of scrimmage. We talk about setting that tone, and the O-line did that on Sunday.
“I love the fact that we’re running the ball. I think that’s just going to help our team continue to be great.”
