During First Take on Friday, the panel was discussing the upcoming game between the Pittsburg Steelers and the Tennessee Titans when all of a sudden the conversation switched to that of Titans running back Derrick Henry and his potential impact on the game.
Ryan Clark, former Steeler turned ESPN analyst, brought up how the team would need to zero in on Henry and negate his production. But during his rant, Clark called out Henry for not being able to dominate bigger players in a defenses front seven and only has success against smaller players.
One of the ways he described the former Heisman Trophy winner’s playstyle is that he runs with “late bravery”, and only shows toughness when running over smaller defenders.
This is not the first time Henry’s play style has been brought into question by someone with NFL connections. Last season ahead of the AFC Championship Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Frank Clark said Henry was not hard to tackle and that “he’s just a big guy.”
Despite Clark’s issue with Henry’s play, it has worked tremendously for him over the past three seasons. After breaking over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns for the first time in his career in 2018, Henry followed up that season with a league-leading 1,540 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2019.
He was also integral in helping the Titans reach the AFC Championship game before losing to the eventual champion Chiefs.
In 2020 Henry is currently on track to exceed the dominance he had from a season ago. He is the current leading rusher in the NFL and is on pace to finish with 1,882 yards and 19 touchdowns on the year.
There isn’t a single team in the league that would pass up on someone who could post those numbers.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
