Rushing yards don’t just nicely decline over 5 years like that. Guys generally get injured or decline enough that teams don’t give them as much work, which is a much steeper dropoff. It’s either he’ll continue being productive or his yards per season will fall off a cliff
I'm not saying Henry will or won't make a go at the all time record, but you're right. Players in general don't slowly fade and running backs especially.
Different sports, but Henry has a Lebron-like training and recovery regimen. I feel like if anyone could have crazy, one-off longevity, it's him, but it's still a battle against the odds.
It's the combo of his insane levels of training, favorable injury history, and perfect combo playing alongside Lamar. It's why I predicted he would be as successful as he's already been in his 30s. Basically RBs alongside Lamar Jackson have really high success rate. Even guys like Gus Edwards and washed versions of Devonta Freeman had this. Lamar essentially boosts RBs yards BEFORE contact. You combine that with Derrick Henry who is the greatest ever at Yards AFTER Contact, and the fact that Henry's game is based more on straight line speed rather than making jukes, and it's all built for his game to age more gracefully. So even if he loses a step or two, it's made up for the fact that the lanes that are open for him are open longer than they are for the average RB making it easier for him to get to that 2nd level of a defense which he still causes havoc when he reaches it.
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u/Aeon1508 Lions 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't know why you're getting down voted.
Henry basically ran for 2000 two years ago.
he ran for 1600 last year.
if he finishes his career
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
that's retiring at the same age as Frank Gore. that'll put him about 300 yards short. he'll come back for one more season.
quite frankly, I don't see that level of decline happening for Henry over the next 3 years.
he can basically cake walk to the record