Injuries Reduce Contenders to Henry's Rushing Crown
It has been two weeks, but Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry can already start to gauge who he will be up against in defense of his 2019 rushing title.
Since the 2000 season, only LaDanian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers has won the rushing title in back-to-back seasons (2006, 2007). Henry, who finished last season with a career-high 1,540 rushing yards, is off and running this season. The 26-year old Pro Bowler already ranks second in the league in rushing with 200 yards on 56 attempts after two games.
While two of Henry’s top competitors have already sustained season-ending injuries, and another will miss a significant chunk of the season with an injury, there are still plenty of quality running backs who could unseat Henry at the top.
AllTitans takes an early season look at Henry’s challengers:
WHO YOU CAN RULE OUT
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
Any chance Barkley had to win his first career rushing title came to a devastating end Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Barkley suffered a torn ACL on the first play of the second quarter and will miss the remainder of the season. The 23-year-old Barkley has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons. In 2018, he earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after he ran for a career-high 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns on 261 attempts. Barkley finished second in rushing yards to Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys that season.
Marlon Mack, Indianapolis Colts
Mack’s chances ended even earlier than Barkley’s. The 24-year-old suffered a torn Achilles during the Colts’ Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Admittedly a dark horse for the rushing title, he followed up his 908-yard rookie season (2018) by finishing ninth among running backs with 1,091 yards last season.
Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers
McCaffrey has not been ruled out for the season, but he will miss enough time to be considered a non-factor in the year’s rushing title race. He reportedly will miss four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain. A first-round selection by the Panthers in 2017, McCaffrey has recorded well over 1,000 rushing yards in each of the last two seasons. In 2018, McCaffery finished 10th in the league in rushing yards with 1,098. He took a massive step toward his first career rushing title last season when he finished fourth in rushing yards with 1,387.
BIGGEST COMPETITORS
Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys
A three-time Pro Bowler, Ezekiel Elliott has led the league in rushing twice (2016, 2018) and has never finished outside of the top 10 in four seasons. As a rookie in 2016, Elliott ran for a career-high 1,631 yards, averaging roughly 108 yards per contest. He ran for 938 the following season (2017) but recovered nicely with back-to-back seasons in which he ran for more than 1,300 yards (2018, 2019).
Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
The only thing that will prevent Nick Chubb from having a shot at the rushing title is his teammate/backup, Kareem Hunt.
Drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Chubb finished in the top 20 in rushing as a rookie with 996 yards. Last season, he ran for 1,494 yards and had the league lead much of the way before Henry overtook him in Week 17..
Chubb has gotten off to a quick start this season. The 24-year-old is fourth with 184 yards. Hunt, meanwhile, is eighth with 158 yards. The duo makes for a nice one-two punch, but one may prevent the one from sitting alone at the top.
Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings
Dalvin Cook struggled to stay healthy during his first two NFL seasons, but he put the league on notice last season when he played and started 14 games.
He finished eighth in rushing last season when he ran for a career-high 1,135 yards (his first season with 1,000 or more yards). He ran for less than 100 yards in each of the Vikings first two contests this season, but don’t expect the slump to last long. Cook will be a factor.
Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
It’s time to consider Aaron Jones as one of the game’s best running backs.
A fifth-round selection by the Packers in 2017, it took him a couple of seasons to make his mark. He increased his total from 728 yards in 2018 to a career-high 1,084 last season, good for 15th among all running backs.
Jones currently leads the league with 234 yards. He ran for 168 yards in Green Bay’s victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Mixon has been in contention for the rushing title twice in his career. A second-round selection by the Bengals in 2017, he finished eighth in the league in 2018 with a career-high 1,168 yards and sixth in 2019 with 1,137 yards.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City Chiefs
Clyde Edwards-Helaire does not look like a rookie. A first-round selection by the Chiefs in April, he is currently sixth in the league with 176 yards. He ran for 138 in his first career game against the Houston Texans.
Edwards-Helaire will be the feature running back for Kansas City this year as Damien Williams opted out of the 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns.
Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Josh Jacobs was the only rookie running back to rush for 1,000 yards or more last season. He finished the season 13th in the league with 1,150 yards.
Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
Austin Ekeler has never sniffed a 1,000 yard season in his career because he has primarily been Melvin Gordon’s backup. With Gordon gone, Ekeler will assume much of the load has shared time with Josh Kelley.
An undrafted free agent in 2017, Ekeler has 177 rushing yards on 35 carries through two games this season (fifth in the league).
Kenyan Drake, Arizona Cardinals
The Miami Dolphins traded Kenyan Drake to the Cardinals in October last season. In the eight games that followed, he exploded for 643 yards and finished the season with a career-high 817 yards. He ran for 100 yards or more in three of his eight starts with Arizona.
Currently, Drake ranks 13th in the league with 146 yards.
What about Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints)?
Alvin Kamara undeniably one of the most elusive running backs in the league. However, he is pass-catching back in a pass-heavy offense.
While the three-time Pro Bowler has finished with more than 1,300 yards from scrimmage in each of his three NFL seasons, he has never rushed for more than 883 yards.
