Henry Tops Non-QBs in Pro Bowl Fan Vote
In the least surprising Derrick Henry news of the season, he finished third in Pro Bowl fan voting.
Fan voting ended on Thursday and with 315,359 total votes, the Tennessee Titans running back trails only Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (342, 353 votes) and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (335,156 votes). Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers are just behind Henry.
Full Pro Bowl teams will be announced at 6 p.m. (CST) Monday on NFL Network, and Henry appears to be well on his way to a second straight appearance. The fan vote counts as one-third of the selection process. A vote of players and coaches also counts for one-third apiece.
No running back has been as dominant as Henry this season.
He is well-positioned to win the NFL's rushing title for a second straight season. At one point not too long ago, he was neck-and-neck with Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook. However, Henry’s four 100-yard games and one 200-yard showing in his last six contests have all but dashed Cook’s chances. After Week 15, Henry leads Cook 1,679 yards to 1,484.
Only a handful of running backs have won the rushing title in back-to-back seasons, and it has not been done since 2006-2007 LaDanian Tomlinson.
Henry also leads the league in carries (321), yards per game (119.9) and is tied with Cook in rushing touchdowns (15). He has a league-leading nine 100-yard rushing performances and two 200-yard showings and ranks sixth in yards-per-carry at 5.2.
The bigger headline now is the fact that Henry has a realistic chance to become the eighth player in league history and first since 2012 Adrian Peterson to reach the 2,000-yard mark. Henry needs 321 yards in the final two regular season games to get there. It seems like a tall order, but in his last two games combined, Henry has rushed for 362 yards. Over the course of weeks 11 and 12, Henry ran for 311 yards.
Henry will face a middle-of-the-road run defense in the Green Bay Packers in Week 16, and the 31st-ranked run defense in the Houston Texans in Week 17.
Whatever he accomplishes next, though, a second career Pro Bowl nod certainly doesn’t come as a surprise.
There will be no actual Pro Bowl game this year, but 88 players (44 from each conference) still will be selected and recognized as Pro Bowlers. League officials said they would reimagine the game and the preceding days to “create a variety of engaging activities to replace the Pro Bowl game this season.”
