Ravens' Derrick Henry Earns Unique Honor

Is Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry the best non-quarterback player in the league?

RB Derrick Henry: Signed by Baltimore Ravens (previous team: Tennessee Titans) / Andrew Nelles / USA TODAY NETWORK

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry has been one of the league's best players for years now, but it seems like even that assesment could be selling him short.

Sports Info Solutions recently ran a statistical analysis to find the best non-quarterback players in the league based on points above average (PAA), defined as "the extent to which the player excels relative to the position, and points above replacement (PAR), which "measures how valuable a player is in general, incorporating a notion of relative positional value." According to said analysis, Henry is the top non-quarterback in the entire NFL.

"In simplest form, our stats group created a methodology that is favorable to where Henry stands in the running back universe," SIS writes. "He’s No.1 because he’s been 'more better' (for lack of a better term) at running back over the last two years than other players are at their respective positions."

The second part of that comment may raise some eyebrows considering the dominance of San Francisco 49ers running back and reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey. In anticipation of such questions, SIS offered an explanation for why Henry tops the list while McCaffrey is nowhere to be found.

"Over the last two years, Henry has generated almost 30 more PAA than McCaffrey as a rusher, which doesn’t get sufficiently counterbalanced by McCaffrey’s receiving excellence," SIS writes.

"The gap in rushing is in large part to the difference in their circumstances. Henry has continued to be productive year after year despite having the most carries in the NFL when the offensive line blew a block in front of him over the last two years, and last year he turned more than 60 percent of those into gains. Henry’s elusiveness has not eluded him yet, with similar or better broken and missed tackle rates to McCaffrey’s."

To illustrate how different the two practices are, SIS also had former NFL scout Matt Manocherian and podcast host Bryce Rossler assemble a "scout's perspective" of the same list. While Henry did not appear on that list, another Raven in linebacker Roquan Smith came in at No. 9.

"In the interest of being less boring, the scouts included Roquan Smith as an off-ball linebacker choice," SIS writes. "He’s a downhill player and an 'enforcer,' per Matt, and while he doesn’t have the crazy athleticism that other potential candidates do, he closed the gap in that respect in 2023 in terms of being an excellent well-rounded player."

Player evaluation is the furthest thing from an exact science, but at the very least, there is one perspective that supports King Henry's reign over the league.

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