In the four regular season games where he has faced the Baltimore Ravens, running back Derrick Henry has 55 carries for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Henry helped the Tennessee Titans defeat the Ravens, 28-12, in the divisional round during the 2019 season, rushing for 195 yards in the playoff win.
After years of trying to stop King Henry, head coach John Harbaugh will now have him on his sideline, after the 30-year-old signed a two-year contract with Baltimore. Harbaugh says he is happy to be adding a dynamic player to his backfield.
At the 2024 NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando, Harbaugh said when they were analyzing and deciding whether to bring Henry in or not, it was how he played against the Ravens in the past that showed them just how much he can bring to an offense.
"Well, it's a big buzz, big guy and a big player," Harbaugh said (via NFL.com). "He has a great personality and loves football. We played against him all those years. When you play against a guy, you earn respect for a guy, and we've had our hands full trying to stop him. So, it kind of speaks to us. How we want to play and approach the game, so I'm fired up to have him."
The head coach recalled Henry playing against the Ravens in London last season, when the running back averaged 8.1 yards per carry, with 97 yards, a touchdown and a long of 63 yards. Long plays against your defense "sting and they stay singing for a long time" Harbaugh said, adding that "you don't forget those things."
"Well, defensively, he's just real football," Harbaugh said. "There's one thing to have a reputation, it's another thing to have the challenge of defending him. Just the fact that you have to tackle him. If he gets a head of steam, whether it's in the 'A' gap or outside ... So, we respect him, and he's going to help us."
Harbaugh noted the various ways they can beat opposing defenses, beginning with his quarterback Lamar Jackson's ability to be a dual threat.
"People talk about attacking the full width of the field, especially in the run game," Harbaugh said. "You could do it in the pass game too or extend some runs or call them screens and things like that. These are all things Lamar is so good at. Lamar does it by throwing the ball. He could do it by reading the defense and keeping it or going a different way. We could take the back, and Lamar could go vertical."
Harbaugh continued, saying Henry is someone who can "attack" any gap, a skill the offense can use to their advantage.
"We've got a lot of different things that we like to do. So, A gap, B gap, C gap, D gap, alley, or all the way to the sideline, you want to attack a defense like that, right?" Harbaugh said. "That's important in the run game, and Derrick Henry can attack every single one of those areas just as well. He could come downhill, there's no doubt about it. He's going to get after that A gap and he's going to make people defend to force the defense to tuck in their real nice."
The Ravens, who had Super Bowl hopes last season, finishing 13-4 and getting the No. 1 seed in the AFC, fell to the then-defending and eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs in the conference championship. They are expected to be one of the teams to beat once again this year and Harbaugh believes he's has something good with the makeup of his squad.
"I think that Derrick Henry being there, plus Lamar, plus the other guys, it's a good formula," Harbaugh said (via CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr).
The Ravens dealt with injuries to their running backs last season, going through a long list of players throughout the year and the addition of Henry could provide some stability.
