The Ravens tried to trade for Derrick Henry last year. NFL media has been trying to manifest Henry to Baltimore ever since he gave his farewell speech to Tennessee fans last year. In what has been a fairly unpredictable open tampering period so far, we finally got a player landing in his expected spot. Henry is officially a Raven, pairing up with Lamar Jackson to form perhaps the scariest rushing duo in the league. Note that we broke down the Titans’ Tony Pollard signing here, so we’ll focus only on Baltimore’s backfield today.
DERRICK HENRY
Old ranking: 61st overall on Underdog
New ranking: 38th overall on Underdog
- This is an ideal fit for Henry. With six straight seasons above 215 carries including three years of 300 or more, 30-year-old Henry has plenty of tread on his tires. In Baltimore, he shouldn’t be asked to run the ball 20 times per game, but he should be among the league leaders in rushing efficiency and will get all the goal-line work he can handle. Gus Edwards tied for the league lead in carries inside the 5-yard line in 2023 and scored 13 rushing TDs; that role will go directly to Henry with the Gus Bus in Los Angeles now.
- Much like how Tyjae Spears played on third downs for the Titans, Justice Hill likely maintains his passing-down role for the Ravens in 2024. That’s fine — Henry has shown he doesn’t need a major receiving role to post monstrous fantasy numbers, and his fantasy production on a per-carry basis should be the best of his career.
- Keaton Mitchell will return at some point in 2024 and may take a few carries here and there, but Henry will get the carries that matter. He’s a TD-dependent early-down workhorse in one of the best rushing offenses in football. This is an upgrade to his fantasy outlook.
OTHER RAVENS RBS
- Hill probably plays on third downs and in the 2-minute drill as the most-trusted receiving back on the roster. He won’t be fantasy-relevant without a Henry injury, and even then, the Ravens could bring someone in (if Mitchell isn’t healthy) or turn it into a two-back split with the speedy Mitchell once he returns. Hill is off the fantasy radar, even though he’ll still play on offense. Mitchell could also usurp him for third-down snaps once he’s healthy.
- The addition of Henry blocks Mitchell from fantasy relevancy even once he’s healthy. The East Carolina product had truly absurd efficiency in both facets last year, but 2024 will likely end up being a slower season for him as he aims to get fully healthy for 2025. Plus, at 5-foot-8 and under 200 pounds, he’s not built to handle a 15+ carry-per-game workload like Henry is. Mitchell’s clearest path to contributing is overtaking Hill for the third-down role, but that’s still not very useful for fantasy.
