Henry's Impact on Offense Exceeded Simple Stats

Coach Mike Vrabel says the fourth-year running back emerged as an important voice in the locker room, on the practice field

Derrick Henry was the focus of the Tennessee Titans’ offense in more ways than one this season.

Yes, he led the team – and the NFL – in rushing. Yes, he also had career-highs in receptions and receiving yards. Yes, he accounted for 1,746 yards of total offense, which was 30 percent of the Titans’ total.

However, coach Mike Vrabel, during his appearance Friday on the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, detailed how the running back’s influence grew well beyond his numbers in his fourth seasons.

“I watched his leadership grow throughout the season,” Vrabel said. “When we were in December and we needed to win football games and we knew the formula, if he didn’t like the way a play looked in practice he’d say, ‘Hey, run it again.’ And I didn’t have to say a word. Everybody got on the ball. The offense got on the ball and they ran the play exactly how they wanted it.”

Henry, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner out of Alabama, was not – and never has been – named one of the team’s captains. Yet, by the end of the season, which included his first Pro Bowl selection, he regularly addressed the full locker room before and after the games, which helped set the tone throughout the offseason.

That makes his value difficult to quantify as he enters the final days of his contract and moves closer to the possibility of free agency. It is likely, though, that he is worth enough to the Titans that they won’t allow it to get to that point, even if it means using the exclusive franchise tag to guarantee no other team gets a shot at him.

“That was something that I was probably most proud of him,” Vrabel said of Henry’s leadership. “I knew he was going to run hard. I knew he was going to break tackles. I knew he was going to stiff-arm people because that’s the way he trains and that’s the player he is.

“… I felt like as great as his season was – and I told him this after the Kansas City Chiefs game -- … that he improved as a leader. … I think, to me, that was what I was most proud of with Derrick, and I continued to express that to him. Hopefully, we can continue to get that down the road in the future.”