NFL Fact or Fiction: Derrick Henry Deserves More Consideration for MVP

The Ravens have found an identity on offense, but debate rages about who’s responsible for the juggernaut’s creation. Plus, do the Chiefs need another receiver?

Henry has been a bruising presence on the ground for the Ravens, allowing for Lamar Jackson and the rest of the Baltimore offense to open up the downfield passing game. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

MVP conversations have been all the rage in the NFL as of late with a few quarterbacks producing memorable performances in Week 7.

Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson appear to be the two favorites for league MVP, but the prestigious yearly award shouldn’t be all about quarterbacks. The Baltimore Ravens have two MVP candidates because running back Derrick Henry has made life easier for Jackson amid a five-game winning streak. 

We probably shouldn’t be talking this much about MVP candidates with 11 weeks left in the regular season. Perhaps another trade involving a notable wide receiver will occur in the coming days to give us something else to talk about besides early-season MVP candidates. 

The Kansas City Chiefs should strongly consider a trade for a wide receiver, considering what the Ravens did to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night. The Buccaneers recently entered the trade market for a wide receiver themselves because the tandem of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin sustained significant injuries during the ugly home loss to the Ravens.

Let’s talk MVP and wide receiver trades for this week’s Fact or Fiction column, because you can’t get enough of those two topics. 

Derrick Henry needs more MVP consideration

Manzano’s view: Fact

Some weren’t happy with my take on the Ravens having enough firepower to defeat the Chiefs in a potential playoff game. 

Those who disagreed countered with Jackson’s poor playoff performances. That’s a valid point, but we’ve never seen Jackson in a playoff game with Henry. Yes, Henry was on the field for the Week 1 loss against the Chiefs, but these are different teams heading into the halfway point of the season.

After an 0–2 start, the Ravens (5–2) have found their offensive identity and turned into a true juggernaut, perhaps for the first time in the Jackson era. Many will laugh at that because the Ravens scored many points in Jackson’s two MVP seasons in 2023 and ‘19. But those who disagree with my take of the Ravens being the one team capable of beating the Chiefs might agree that those other Baltimore offenses relied heavily on Jackson’s athleticism to establish the run before taking shots downfield.

Henry's addition has also boosted the play of Jackson, who's an MVP candidate in his own right. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

With Henry, the Ravens have taken off as a dominant passing attack and have developed depth at the skill positions. They no longer need the game script to go their way, as evidenced by how quickly they erased a 10-point deficit against the Buccaneers on Monday night and how they outlasted the Cincinnati Bengals in a high-scoring affair in Week 5. Baltimore has averaged 250.6 passing yards per game through seven games this season. The Ravens averaged 213.3 passing yards last year, and 201.6 passing yards in 2019. 

Henry is making life easier for Jackson and his pass catchers, a testament to how valuable he is to the Ravens and why this postseason could be different in Baltimore. Henry also has the numbers to support an MVP campaign, with a league-high 873 rushing yards while averaging 6.5 yards per carry. 

This is not to say Jackson isn’t an MVP candidate again, but Henry definitely needs more consideration for the award that tends to go to quarterbacks. Henry rushed for 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2020 and still wasn’t good enough for the MVP, but it at least got him the Offensive Player of the Year award. 

Chiefs need WR trade to hold off Ravens in potential playoff rematch 

Manzano’s view: Fact

The Chiefs probably don’t need a splash trade for a wide receiver to win the AFC West for a ninth consecutive season and to claim the conference’s No. 1 seed. 

They already have six wins, are the last undefeated team in the NFL and still have winnable games against the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos (twice), Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders (twice), Carolina Panthers, and the Buccaneers, who sustained multiple key injuries in Monday night’s loss against the Ravens. 

The Chiefs will likely waltz into the postseason, but they shouldn’t settle with the current offensive roster because they might need to produce more points than they have through six games this season if they run into the Ravens in the playoffs. The Chiefs’ defense can certainly contain Baltimore's offense again, but the team almost blew it in the 27–20 Week 1 victory, because Patrick Mahomes’s offense couldn’t put the Ravens away in the second half—and that was with Rashee Rice on the field. 

With Rice sidelined for the rest of the season, the Chiefs should strongly consider making a move for a wide receiver. Then again, maybe Chiefs coach Andy Reid is waiting until later in the season to fully unleash rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who’s had somewhat of a quiet first season. 

Money is a concern for the Chiefs due to the lack of cap space, so a trade for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp might not be an option. The Panthers have two talented wideouts in Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen, both of whom are making a lot less than Kupp. There’s also New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton. 

There are too many quality wide receivers available for the Chiefs just to stand pat before the Nov. 5 trade deadline. 

Buccaneers will miss postseason after injuries to Godwin, Evans

Manzano’s view: Fiction 

Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles received plenty of criticism for his questionable decisions to leave Godwin in the game late with a 10-point deficit against the Ravens and for allowing Evans to play with a hamstring injury. 

Godwin (pictured) will miss the remainder of the season, while Evans is expected to be out until at least after Tampa Bay's Week 11 bye. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Evans aggravated his hamstring injury in the first quarter and Godwin was carted off the field after sustaining a season-ending leg injury. Now, Baker Mayfield will be without his top two wide receivers for the foreseeable future, putting in question whether the Buccaneers will make the postseason after the miserable Monday night outing. 

The Buccaneers have an uphill battle, but they still reside in the NFC South. The Atlanta Falcons haven’t shown they’re capable of pulling away in the standings because of their inconsistent performances and just had an ugly home loss against the Seattle Seahawks. Atlanta (4–3) does hold the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay (4–3) because of the Week 5 victory over its divisional rival. However, the Buccaneers don’t have to worry about the fast-fading Saints (2–5) and the struggling Panthers (1–6), possibly the worst team in the league. 

If the Buccaneers strike a trade for a talented wide receiver, perhaps that’s enough for them to keep pace with the Falcons while they wait for a potential Evans return. To rattle off more names, DeAndre Hopkins and/or Tyler Boyd of the Tennessee Titans could be available. Or maybe Kupp, who’s familiar with Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen from their days together with the Rams. 

49ers will right the ship and return to the Super Bowl

Manzano’s view: Fiction

The San Francisco 49ers don’t have the look of a Super Bowl contender after a 3–4 start and an ugly loss to the Chiefs last week. Maybe they right the ship once Christian McCaffrey returns to the field, probably sometime next month. 

Also, the 49ers have enough depth at wide receiver to overcome the loss of Brandon Aiyuk, who sustained a season-ending knee injury last week. Ricky Pearsall, the team’s rookie first-round receiver, made his debut last week after missing the first six games because of a gunshot wound to the chest. But Deebo Samuel was recently hospitalized with pneumonia and Jauan Jennings has been dealing with a hip injury. 

Putting the many injuries aside, the 49ers are capable of stacking enough wins to hold off the Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Seahawks in the race for the NFC West, a division that hasn’t lived up to expectations this season. 

But, again, the 49ers don’t have the look of a Super Bowl contender. A team from the NFC North will probably represent the conference in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. The Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers all have better teams than the 49ers, who might be running out of gas after three consecutive seasons of advancing to the NFC championship game. This current core group of the 49ers might have missed their Super Bowl window. 

Colts should consider benching Richardson for Flacco

Manzano’s view: Fiction

I probably shouldn’t give this one the time of day, but many fantasy football managers aren’t happy about Anthony Richardson being back on the field because of how well Joe Flacco played for the Indianapolis Colts while Richardson was sidelined for two games. 

Richardson still needs time to develop as a passer after playing in just nine games since being selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft. / Christine Tannous/IndyStar USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images-Imagn Images

Flacco pushed the ball downfield and received stellar contributions from Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce and Josh Downs. It’s easy to forget how many talented wide receivers the Colts have because Richardson isn’t as good of a pocket passer as Flacco, which showed in Richardson’s return last week against the Miami Dolphins. The Colts might have a wide receiver room similar to the Packers, who have plenty of depth to make up for their lack of No. 1 wide receiver. 

But the Colts (4–3) won’t be benching Richardson, the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft. The ultra-athletic Richardson needs more reps to improve his accuracy—he’s completing 48.5% of his passes this season—and to work on many other areas of his passing game. Richardson only had one starting season in college at Florida and only played in four games as a rookie. 

The Colts won’t know what they have in Richardson until he completes a season in the NFL, which might be out of their control if he doesn’t stay healthy. If Richardson continues to sustain injuries or doesn’t show improvement, then maybe next year Indianapolis will look for other quarterback options to at least compete with him for the starting job. 

But at the moment, this isn’t the Pittsburgh Steelers’ situation with two signal-callers competing for snaps. It’s all about Richardson in Indianapolis.