Ravens Rookie Coordinator Declan Doyle Putting No Limits On Derrick Henry's Role

Derrick Henry, unicorn that he is, has never carried the ball 300 times or more three straight years in his career as he heads into his age 32 season. Rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, 30, who has never called a play before in his life, is not shying away from dialing it up roughly that much for him in 2026.

Doyle isn’t offering any direct projections, and as a total novice he isn’t sure exactly how any of this is going to play out. Heck, he doesn’t even know yet if he’s going to station himself on the sidelines or in the pressbox on game day. But he made it abundantly clear after Wednesday’s practice that he has no intentions to back off of Henry or nurse him through anything. Let’s face it, if you are doing a job as an offensive coordinator for the first time and you can hand the ball off to a guy who has averaged 5.5 yards per carry in his Ravens career, that’s a pretty tempting default.

Given an opportunity to strike a cautionary tone about Henry – surely aware of 55 years of age 32 running back data that would speak to this being when careers collapse – Doyle did anything but that. Sounds like he is fully vested in finding out if Henry can remain the ferocious bell cow he’s always been, and he in no way intimated that his normal Baltimore workload is out of the question.

“He is a special talent,” Doyle said on Henry. “There are not many guys in the league who can do what he does. The vision for him in the offense is an immense role. Obviously, I don't want to put a number on the amount of [carries], because obviously, as you look at every single week, every week is different. You want to be able to deploy things in different ways, and at the same point in time, he's going to have a pretty large workload.”

Alright then! Strap it up!

Unchartered Territory

Well, if it is to be another 300 carry season, Henry would become just the third age 32 back to hit that total, joining Walter Payton (321 in 1985) and Otis Anderson (325 in 1989). To call that a different era in NFL timelines is a massive understatement. Only four backs in history have surpassed 250 carries in their age 32 season (Frank Gore and Emmitt Smith as the others).

In the only previous instance when Henry has carried 300 times or more in consecutive seasons, he suffered a Jones fracture in his foot midway through the following season (2021), missing nine games but returning for the playoffs. Henry remains in tremendous shape, beyond chiseled and beyond driven, still chasing a Lombardi Trophy. He made it clear when he met the media early in training camp that retirement is nowhere near his mind, but we all know Father Time’s record by now.

Eventually, he gets everyone.

“I don’t try to enter another season thinking about retirement or having that on my mind,” Henry explained. “That’s not even in my mindset.”

As to how much he can handle at this stage of his career, Henry offered: “I ain’t really trying to get into the expectation thing,” Alrighty then. Henry has his game face on. Our buddy Ross Tucker, former offensive lineman and CBS game analyst, FWIW, said on "The Daily Flock Show" that Henry might be impervious to Father Time. "I wouldn't put anything past that guy."

Rookie head coach Jesse Minter didn’t put any blinders on precisely how much Henry could see the ball either, but at least seemed to acknowledge the 32-year elephant in the room when probed about a pitch count or some plan for how to help Henry best get through the season.

“I do think - like all the players – we’re going to have to be really smart to get him through the long season,” Minter said. “I don’t look at that as he’s slowing down, from that standpoint. But that’s our job.”

History Lesson

The numbers paint a fairly bleak portrait of what happens to these older legs as the collective weight of 3000 carries mounts. It’s where even the greatest of the greats truly hit the wall. Few maintain their workloads and the ones who have, become plowhorses with far diminished explosiveness.

It’s quite tell that the best age 32 back in NFL history – Ricky Williams – had roughly 1000 fewer carries than Henry at this stage of his career (including playoffs) given his multiple suspensions and time spent away from the game and on the larger fields of the Canadian Football League.

Age 32 RB Seasons Since 1970

RBs to Amass 250 carries: 5

1,000 Yard Rushers: 4

Avg Y/C With 200+ Rushes: 3.8

RBs With 200+ Rushes To Average 4.5/Carry: 2 (Ricky Williams 4.7, DeAngelo Williams 4.5)

Age 31 RB Seasons Since 1970

RBs With 250+ Carries: 12

1,000 Yard Rushers: 14

Avg Y/C With 200+ Rushes: 4.3

RBs With 200+ Carries To Avg 4.5/Carry: 8

Age 30 RB Seasons Since 1970

RBs To Amass 250+ Carries: 18

1,000 Yard Rushers: 21

Avg. Y/C With 200+ Rushes: 4.2

RBs With 200+ Carries To Avg 4.5/carry: 11

Doyle seems undaunted by any of this. He knows a good thing when he sees it, and, for once, his nativity and inexperience may have come to fore a bit on Wednesday when he opined about this topic. This offensive line still might not be particularly good, Henry’s yards before contact dropped from 2.41 in 2024 to 1.60 last season. His yards per carry facing an 8-man box dropped from 6.3 to 3.8, but Lamar Jackson barely running the football and fewer option looks might have had plenty to do with that.

Doyle clearly also knows that Henry was good for 1600 yards again last season and averaged a robust 6.0 yards per attempt on first down. And this team will be running under center more than the Ravens ever have during the Lamar Jackson era, and Henry did more of that than any RB in the NFL during his time in Tennessee. Doyle's time spent on the staffs of Sean Payton and Ben Johnson ensure as much.

“I was telling the offensive staff how cool it is when you call a run play, first-time play caller, and Derrick Henry is the running back,” Doyle noted. “And you're like, 'The odds of this working are a lot higher.'”

So maybe it will be 300 carries for three years in a row. If Henry can hold up yet again.

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" For The Most Forward-Thinking Ravens Coverage:

Add us as a preferred source on Google