The Saban Top 100: No. 1 Derrick Henry

BamaCentral is ranking the top 100 players of the Nick Saban era at Alabama over the course of the 2020 football season

1] Derrick Henry, RB

• Won 2015 Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Doak Walker Award
• 2015 Unanimous All-American
• 2015 SEC Offensive Player of the Year
• 2015 All-SEC
• Second-round selection in 2016 NFL Draft
• Rushed for a school- and Southeastern Conference record 2,219 yards, which led the nation and was the fifth most in a single-season by an FBS player in college football history
• Set an SEC record with 28 rushing touchdowns, snapping Tim Tebow and Tre Mason's old mark of 23
• Set the Alabama single-season record with 10 100-yard rushing games and four 200-yard games, which broke Bobby Humphrey's school record (3) set in 1986. Only the third running back in SEC history (Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson) to have four 200-yard games in a single season
• Broke Shaun Alexander's record for most career rushing yards in Alabama history
• Played in 39 games over three seasons and totaled 602 carries for a school-record 3,591 yards and 42 rushing touchdowns. He also had 285 yards on 17 career receptions with three receiving scores
• Set the school record with 11 consecutive games with a rushing touchdown and finished his career 20 straight, which was the most in the SEC history
• Team captain

The play was one that a lot of people probably overlooked, but spoke volumes about the progress Alabama running back Derrick Henry made during his career.

It was the 2015 season opener against Wisconsin and Alabama had first down at the Badgers’ 32-yard line early in the third quarter. UW blitzed up the middle and with Jake Coker dropping back the quarterback could have potentially been in serious trouble … only Henry stepped forward and promptly stonewalled the charging linebacker.

It didn’t hurt that the running back was actually bigger than the player he was blocking, T.J. Edwards, who had all of his momentum vanish on impact, but even Henry admitted afterward that it was not a play he would have successfully made a year or two ago.

“Probably not, because I wasn’t experienced,” he said. “But like every player, the more you experience the more you learn and the better you get.

“Pass protection is very serious and we take it seriously here. That’s what they want me to do — pass protect when I can. I’m glad it worked out.”

Actually, it was one of the things that kept him playing more his freshman season. If you remember back to Henry’s debut game against Virginia Tech at the Georgia Dome it was obvious during the few plays he was inserted that things like pass blocking were foreign concepts to him.

He had broken Ken Hall's 51-year-old national rushing record with 12,124 yards after rushing for 4,261 as a senior at Yulee High School in Florida, but it wasn’t until Alabama went back to basics at the start of bowl practices that things started to really click for him at the collegiate level.

Every Crimson Tide fan remembers what happened next. After moving up to second on the depth chart he had an impressive 100 rushing yards on eight carries and turned his first career reception into a 61-yard touchdown against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. Henry averaged 12.5 yard per rush and 17.9 yards per touch, and even had a tackle on special teams.

“By his own admission, one day he told me, 'Coach, all they ever did was just toss me the ball and I ran with it,’” Coach Nick Saban said. “So all this other stuff that I need to learn about playing running back like pass protection and catching the ball out of the backfield and all those kinds of things, I really need to learn.' I think those are the areas he's really improved on dramatically.”

As evidenced throughout the first month of the 2015 season Henry has become more of a complete running back, and effective offensive weapon. In addition to having 147 rushing yards on just 13 carries and three touchdowns against Wisconsin the block he made to nullify the blitzer led to an 11-yard scamper by Coker for a first down.

“Any time you can look up and see No. 2 running down the field with a whole bunch of guys chasing him, that’s an awesome feeling,” center Ryan Kelly said.

“Oh man, Derrick the whole game was pretty impressive,” Coker said.

Despite the Alabama offense having nine new starters that season (everyone except Kelly and sophomore left tackle Cam Robinson), he averaged 11.3 yards per carry against the Badgers.

Moreover, the nationally-televised game was another example of Henry often stands out the most when the spotlight is brightest. For example, during last season’s SEC Championship Game he ran for a career-high 141 yards despite not being the starting running back against Missouri.

“When the lights come on, he’s going to go out there and be productive for us,” tight end O.J. Howard said. “He’s one of those guys. You can’t really say enough about him when the lights come on.”

As for the touchdowns against Wisconsin, they too demonstrated different aspects of his game.

He only needed a seam during the second possession to score a 37-yard touchdown.

His second touchdown pretty much broke Wisconsin’s back. On Alabama’s second offensive snap of the second half he went 56 yards, which also put him over the 100-yard mark for the sixth time of his career. Four of those had been in neutral-site games.

The third score he just plowed through the left side for a 2-yard touchdown. Wisconsin didn’t seem too interested in trying to stop him anymore, and Alabama obliged by pulling him later in the third quarter.

“That’s what we expect out of him and he played a real good game,” linebacker Reggie Ragland, who had to face Henry every day in practice. “It’s tough.”

Heading into the game a lot had been made of the running back matchup with Corey Clement having a career 7.0 average per carry, plus Wisconsin’s top running back exceeding 1,600 rushing yards in each of the previous four seasons.

However, Clement never got going. Limited by a groin injury he managed just 16 rushing yard on eight carries, while reserves Taiwan Deal and Dare Ogunbowale combined for 14 carries for 30 yards.

Overall, Alabama outgained the Badgers on the ground 238-40. It could have been a lot more lopsided had Alabama wanted to pad Henry’s numbers, but with an extremely difficult schedule looming coaches opted for keeping him as fresh as possible and long as possible.

Consequently, Henry only had 67 carries during the first month of the season, but was still fourth among Southeastern Conference rushers by averaging 105.5 yards per game. His eight rushing touchdowns tied for the league and national lead.

“He usually plays better as the game goes on in terms of workhorse-type guy,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said.

Of that there’s little doubt. It’s how Henry went about things since arriving on the Capstone as an early enrollee in January 2103. His roommate back then was Howard, who would wake up in the middle of the night and see Henry doing pushups.

When asked if he had a sequel to that story Howard simply referred to the Wisconsin game.

“That’s the new updated story,” Howard said. 

A version of this story appeared in an updated edition of "100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die."

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The Saban Top 100 has been revealed over the course of the 2020 football season, including as part of BamaCentral's 25 Days of Christmas celebration.

The series:

Introduction

No. 2: Tua Tagovailoa

No. 3: Mark Ingram II

No. 4 Julio Jones

No. 5: Barrett Jones

No. 6: Jonathan Allen

No. 7: AJ McCarron

No. 8: Minkah Fitzpatrick

No. 9: C.J. Mosley

No. 10: Amari Cooper

No. 11: Rolando McClain

No. 12: Trent Richardson

No. 13: Andre Smith

No. 14: Quinnen Williams

No. 15: Dont'a Hightower

No. 16: Jerry Jeudy

No. 17: Jalen Hurts

No. 18: Reuben Foster

No. 19: Chance Warmack

No. 20: Mark Barron

No. 21: Jonah Williams

No. 22: Da'Ron Payne

No. 23: Ryan Kelly

No. 24: Landon Collins

No. 25: Cam Robinson

26-30: Terrence Cody, Calvin Ridley, Javier Arenas, Reggie Ragland, Jedrick Wills Jr.

31-35: Dee Milliner, D.J. Fluker, Marlon Humphrey, Rashad Evans, A'Shawn Robinson

36-40: Rashaan Evans, Dre Kirkpatrick, Marcell Dareus, Eddie Jackson, O.J. Howard

41-45: Courtney Upshaw, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Henry Ruggs III, Jarran Reed, Xavier McKinney

46-50: Dalvin Tomlinson, Antoine Caldwell, Kareem Jackson, Cyrus Kouandjio, Trevon Diggs

51-55: Mike Johnson, T.J. Yeldon, Ronnie Harrison, Damien Harris, JK Scott

56-60: Ross Pierschbacher, Eddie Lacy, Bradley Bozeman, Ryan Anderson, Glen Coffee

61-65: Greg McElroy, Josh Jacobs, Anfernee Jennings, James Carpenter, Kenyan Drake

66-70: Terrell Lewis, Blake Sims, Christian Miller, Irv Smith Jr., Tim Williams

71-75: Mack Wilson, ArDarius Stewart, Deionte Thompson, Raekwon Davis, Jalston Fowler

76-80: Josh Chapman, Cyrus Jones, Kevin Norwood, Isaiah Buggs, Jake Coker

81-85: Bo Scarbrough, Anthony Averett, Leigh Tiffin, Ed Stinson, DeQuan Menzie

86-90: Jesse Williams, Shaun Dion Hamilton, William Vlachos, Da'Shawn Hand, Arie Kouandjio

91-95: Nico Johnson, Wallace Gilberry, DJ Hall, Vinnie Sunseri, Quinton Dial

96-100: Trey DePriest, Damion Square, Christion Jones, John Parker Wilson, Simeon Castille