NFL Free Agency: The Ravens land Derrick Henry.

King Henry has officially taken his talents to Baltimore.

On the one hand, Father Time is undefeated, and Henry turned 30 in January. This is historically about when RBs cease to be overly dominant in fantasy.

On the other, there actually hasn't been much on-field evidence of Henry's ability falling off. Sure, his raw yards per carry have dipped, but a lot of that has to do with PFF's reigning 32nd-ranked offensive line struggling mightily in the trenches in recent years.

Titans rank in rush yards before contact per carry:

2023: 0.9 (30th)
2022: 1.0 (30th)
2021: 1.3 (18th)
2020: 1.5 (13th)

The Ravens’ rank during this span? First. This is both a testament to Baltimore:

Typically doing a good job ensuring they’ve invested ample resources into their offensive line.
Lamar Jackson’s value in the run game. His gravity on read-option plays has helped Baltimore RBs average a robust 4.8 yards per carry over the past five years – the
highest mark in the league.

Henry’s yards after contact per carry have stayed between 3.3 and 3.9 yards in each of the past four seasons – good for top-10 marks at the position every year along the way. His max speed per season tells a similar story: Don’t be so quick to dub Henry washed just because of his raw yards per carry numbers.

It remains to be seen if the Ravens will be as steadfast about feeding the Big Dog 20-plus touches per game as the Titans were, although the essential one-year rental nature of his contract could help bust their previous committee-heavy tendencies.

Kudos to the Ravens for getting the same guy they tried to trade for midway through last season on a reasonable deal; here’s to hoping it pays dividends come January – Henry has been a LOAD to handle during his career when winter has come around.

Henry career yards per carry by month:

September: 3.9
October: 4.6
November: 4.9
December: 5.1
January: 5.2

Don't go crazy and treat Henry as a top-10 option at the position in the year 2024, but RB15 around guys like Kenneth Walker, Alvin Kamara and David Montgomery feels about right for the expected primary TD scorer inside of the league's reigning fourth-ranked scoring offense. After all, Henry worked as the RB16 in PPR points per game last season inside a far less fantasy-friendly environment.

NFL Free Agency: The Ravens land Derrick Henry.

Get $25 Guillotine League Credits When You Join FL+