Ravens Struggling Star Needs Big Game vs. Texans

Derrick Henry's quiet statistical start to the season has already taken several narrative forms through the first four weeks of the NFL regular season, with his Baltimore Ravens failing to deliver on their championship expectations in flopping to an early 1-3 record.

What started as an odd play-calling quirk quickly escalated into head coach John Harbaugh's openly critiquing his coordinators for underutilizing their star running back, but the team now needs him to return back to the top of the team's scoring options immediately with availability questions surrounding many of his co-stars.

ESPN's already preparing to shovel a good amount of Baltimore's Week 5 workload onto Henry's broad shoulders, and Lamar Jackson's increasingly-doubtful status ahead of his team's matchup against the Houston Texans only puts more pressure on the coaching staff to finally let the league's best downhill rushing threat run buck-wild.

The site's writers threw him a bone in their bold prediction for the Sunday showdown, with Seth Walder writing "Ravens RB Derrick Henry will record a season-high 22-plus rush attempts. The Texans have a ferocious pass rush but struggle to stop the run. QB Lamar Jackson (hamstring) could be out, so the Ravens are going to want to lean on the ground game."

The Ravens' curious choice to hold Henry back from getting the ball every time down, running the ball less than any other team on first and second down-situations, has resulted in his usually-impressive counting stats taking a dip, even if he remains effective in posting yards per attempt in the NFL at 5.8 per touch and yards after contact per rush at 2.7.

Baltimore Ravens Running Back Derrick Henry — Sep 28, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) rushes as Kansas City Chiefs safety Chamarri Conner (27) and Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook (6) defend during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

He's been hindered by an odd fumbling issue that's plagued him early on this season, as he's already coughed up multiple crucial turnovers in the fourth quarters of several games. Henry leads the league in fumbles with three through 2025 after totaling just as many in a 17-game sample size last year, but that's not nearly a good enough reason to deprive him of his snaps and touches.

The Ravens' shoddy offensive line, unimpressively porous when healthy and even worse as they deal with their own assortment of injuries, hasn't done him any favors, and nor will Jackson's increasingly-likely Sunday afternoon absence. He abstained from a second straight practice to close out the business week, leaving Henry all alone as the sole backfield ground threat as he'll attempt to captain his drained team to a much-needed in-conference win.

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