Derrick Henry Joins Elite Class of NFL Running Backs

Derrick Henry of the Baltimore Ravens after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Oct. 6, 2024. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Ravens running back Derrick Henry etched his name among the all-time greats on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

He also helped seal an exciting comeback by Baltimore.

Henry finished with 15 carries for 92 yards, including a 51-yard rumble to Cincinnati’s 6-yard line that set up a short field goal by Justin Tucker in overtime to seal the 41–38 victory.

Henry became the 12th player in NFL history with at least 10,000 rushing yards and 100 scrimmage touchdowns in a career, joining such Pro Football Hall of Famers as Marcus Allen, Jim Brown, Marshall Faulk, Franco Harris, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and Emmitt Smith.

Henry is also having a Hall of Fame career. He has been named to four Pro Bowls and was the 2020 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Henry currently leads the NFL with 572 yards rushing.

“It’s very cool. As a kid, I always wanted to play running back and make it to the NFL,” Henry said in the Ravens locker room on Friday. “For me to play this long and be able to reach that milestone that so many great ones before me reached that I idolized—it’s like a kid at a candy store where you can’t believe what’s in front of you achieving that milestone.

“I’m grateful—grateful for every coach [and] every teammate that helped me get to this point. I’m just very thankful for it all.”

Henry also became the fifth player in NFL history with at least 10,000 rushing yards and 100 scrimmage touchdowns in his first 125 career games, along with Brown, Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Adrian Peterson.

Henry scored Baltimore’s first touchdown against Cincinnati with a 1-yard run in the first quarter. He is now the first Ravens player in franchise history to score a rushing touchdown in each of the season’s first five games.

He also became the first nonrookie and fourth player overall in NFL history to record a rushing touchdown in each of his first five games with a team, joining Alan Ameche (Baltimore Colts, 1955), Joe Cribbs (Buffalo, 1980) and Robert Edwards (New England, 1998), according to the Ravens.

Henry’s seven touchdowns—six rushing and one receiving—tied running back Willis McGahee (2009) for the most by a Raven through five games of a season in franchise history.

“[I’m] always grateful for the journey and everyone that’s been a point of it,” Henry said. “I’ve been blessed tremendously, and I’m very thankful to be able to play this long and be able to reach a milestone that big.”

Henry is the active leader in rushing yards with 10,074, ahead of the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott (9,002), the Texans’ Joe Mixon (6,596), and the Browns’ Nick Chubb (6,511).

The Ravens signed Henry as a free agent in March with the hope that he could help lead them to the Super Bowl. Henry spent his first eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

Last season, Henry, 30, started all 17 games for the Titans and was named to his fourth Pro Bowl. He led the AFC in rushing and ranked second in the NFL with 1,167 rushing yards on 280 carries (4.1 average), while his 12 rushing touchdowns tied for fifth in the conference.

He’s playing at an even higher level this season.

“[I’m] not going to lie, every time [Henry] gets the ball, I’m thinking he’s about to break [one], and he’s going to score because we’ve been in the locker room, [and] he’s called himself a ‘home run hitter.’ He’ll be like, ‘I’m a home run hitter. I’m a home run hitter,’ and he just keeps showing it,” Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers said after the Bengals game.