Notable Milestones Within Henry's Reach This Season

The Tennessee Titans hope that running back Derrick Henry will pick up at the start of the 2022 NFL season right where he left off when he was injured midway through the 2021 campaign.

If he does, Henry will move up the lists of several NFL milestones – and might even get to the top of one. The two-time rushing champion enters his seventh season in the league with some accomplishments that put him in the same category as a number of Hall of Famers.

Likewise, from a franchise standpoint, he is in select company and can move up – or top – some notable lists.

Of course, how much progress Henry makes in those career categories depends on how much – if at all – the broken foot he sustained last year at Indianapolis (and the subsequent surgery that left him with some hardware in the appendage) affects his production.

After all, few people have racked up rushing yards at the rate he did over all or parts of the last three seasons. Anything less than Henry at his physical best will make it difficult for him to do what he has done.

“He's a volume guy,” general manager Jon Robinson said at the start of training camp. “He wants the ball. That's his mindset and he likes it when we give it to him. That's a balance that you have to – from a coaching standpoint with trainers, with the strength coaches – just figure out what's best for the football team.”

Henry currently is fourth on the franchise’s career rushing last with 6.797 yards. A good season (a little less than 1,2000 yards) will move him past Chris Johnson (7,965 yards) into third. If he approaches what he did in 2020, when he set a franchise record with 2,027 yards, he will pass Earl Campbell (8,574 yards) for second. Eddie George’s record of 10,009 yards is out of reach for now.

But Henry can accomplish much more than just that this season.

A look at where Derrick Henry stands on the lists of three notable NFL career milestones:

Most Career Games, 200-plus Rushing Yards

• Adrian Peterson – 6

• O.J. Simpson – 6

• Derrick Henry – 5

Most Career Games, 150-plus Rushing Yards

• Barry Sanders – 25

• Jim Brown – 13

• LaDainian Tomlinson – 12

• Derrick Henry – 11

Most Consecutive Seasons with 10-plus Rushing TDs

• LaDainian Tomlinson – 9

• Adrian Peterson – 7

• Shaun Alexander – 5

• Michael Turner – 5

• Derrick Henry – 4

A look at where Derrick Henry stands on the lists of notable Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers career milestones:

Rushing Touchdowns

• Earl Campbell – 73

• Derrick Henry – 65

Touchdowns

• Eddie George – 74

• Earl Campbell – 73

• Derrick Henry – 68

Coaches have expressed confidence about Henry’s prospects for 2022 but have kept him under wraps since the start of training camp. The NFL’s leading rusher since the start of the 2017 season did not see the field during preseason games and spent the majority of camp doing individual conditioning drills while the rest of the team worked through the playbook.

“He's on schedule and he's into it,” head coach Mike Vrabel said following the final training camp practice. “He's mentally into it. He wants to do whatever he can do to help the football team.”

What Henry does best, of course, is run the ball. And – to this point – he has done it better than most.

“I think that’s why Coach Vrabel has me on this plan,” Henry said. “So, when it’s time to go, I’m ready to go, and when they need me to answer, I’m there to answer. Whether it’s the first quarter, second, third or fourth. I’m willing to do what I can to go out there and help the team.”