Ravens Adapting Offense To Fit Derrick Henry

The Baltimore Ravens had to make a change on offense to accommodate their new star running back, and it's paid off tremendously.

Dec 21, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) runs for a gain against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Derrick Henry has lived up to the hype and then some in his first season with the Baltimore Ravens, but it's easy to forget that there were some growing pains at first.

In his first two games as a Raven, Henry rushed for just 130 yards while averaging 4.2 yards per carry, well below his exceptionally high standards. Even before that, though, there were questions about how he'd fit into Baltimore's offense. Henry primarily lined up in single-back formations as a member of the Tennessee Titans while the Ravens use pistol and shotgun formations at a very high rate.

Turns out, those concerns were solvable for the Ravens, albeit with some adjustments. Lamar Jackson is lining up significantly more under center this season compared to last (29.6 percent of plays vs. 15.2 percent, per the Ravens' site), but they're also having more success out of pistol and shotgun formations. Case in point, 11 percent of Henry's runs have been out of pistol this season, and he's averaging 8.5 yards yards per attempt on those runs.

"Obviously, having Derrick [Henry] and getting him running downhill has been good for us," offensive coordinator Todd Monken told reporters Wednesday. "And there are certain things that we've evolved to, and there are other things that I think are better for Derrick and us when we're under center. But I just think he does a great job with it, [and] Derrick has really blended in well with what we've asked him to do."

Since the bye week, the Ravens have leaned even more into pistol and shotgun sets. It's worked out very well, as they've scored at least 30 points in each of their three games since then. Considering it came by necessity, it's impressive how well the change has worked.

"Some of it's that, and some of it [is that] we didn't have Charlie [Kolar]. Charlie is kind of our C-Gap tight end blocker, so it's a little bit of both, and who we were playing. Certain teams present itself for us to be under center a little bit more. So, [it was] a combination of self-scout, a combination of who we were playing and a combination of Charlie – all the above."

The Ravens are rounding into form at just the right time, and when their offense is rolling, very few teams can stop them.

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