Derrick Henry turned 30 in January, the age when running backs tend to fall off the cliff.
Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore and Raheem Mostert are the only running backs in the past decade who have had a 1,000-yard season at 30 or older. Don’t bet against Henry joining them this season.
“That’s always going to be said when a running back gets up in age, the stigma on the position,” Henry said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “But I just focus on me being healthy, doing my job when I’m here and then let my play speak for my age.”
Henry averaged 68.6 rushing yards per game and 4.2 yards per carry in 2023, both of which were the lowest of his career, but he again led the league in carries with 280 and had 1,167 yards. He has had 1,000 yards five of the past six seasons, gaining 937 in 2021 when he played only eight games because of an injury.
Henry has led the league in carries four times in the past five seasons and has averaged 306 carries per season in that time.
“I don’t really try to worry about that,” Henry said. “It’s kind of funny: Ever since high school, sometimes I got 56 [carries] in the game, 57 the next week. In college, it was 44, 46. In the NFL, it was 30, 35. I really think it’s just your mindset, how you take care of your body and not get too caught on ‘he say, she say.’ If it works and you feel good, just keep working and keep doing what you do.”
The Ravens haven’t had a running back with more than 300 carries since 2010 when Ray Rice had 307.