Thoughts on Derrick Henry and the running game

[NashvilleNinja]

DHenry pickin his teeth with all these thoughts.

[freakingeek]

Henry looks like a different runner. He's making cuts, running well in traffic and is running beteeen the tackles well. When he runs like he is now, he doesn't have to catch the football, the re-energized running game has taken some of the pressure off of the defense by increasing the time of possession. Impressive. 

[TitanDuckFan]

6 minutes ago, freakingeek said:

Henry looks like a different runner. He's making cuts, running well in traffic and is running beteeen the tackles well. When he runs like he is now, he doesn't have to catch the football, the re-energized running game has taken some of the pressure off of the defense by increasing the time of possession. Impressive. 

Yup, those 7+ minute drives are awesome. 

They had two of them today.

[NashvilleNinja]

Just now, TitanDuckFan said:

Yup, those 7+ minute drives are awesome. 

They had two of them today.

That's how you slow down today's high scoring offenses. Don't let them touch the ball most of the game.

[japan]

6 hours ago, OILERMAN said:

I think it's real simple. Lewis is def being overused and doesn't need to get the amount of snaps he's been getting this season. 

 

Interesting point.  You could look at Henry's performance toward the end of this season as a macrocosm of how he had been used in games for the last two years.  Mularkey used him as the game closer, when the defense was worn down.  Henry is relatively fresh at this point and it's looked like defenses the last two weeks haven't wanted to tackle him.  Henry in season closure mode.

[IsntLifeFunny]

6 minutes ago, japan said:

Interesting point.  You could look at Henry's performance toward the end of this season as a macrocosm of how he had been used in games for the last two years.  Mularkey used him as the game closer, when the defense was worn down.  Henry is relatively fresh at this point and it's looked like defenses the last two weeks haven't wanted to tackle him.  Henry in season closure mode.

This was a huge part of why I made the bet in the first place. Lewis has never been a feature back. He isn't built in that mode. He's smaller than Darren Sproles, who was a similar player. Sproles could take over games and was faster, but they have the same wiggle and ability to bounce off defenders. No one ever made him a feature back because his frame could never take the pounding of 300 LB linemen over a full season. They need to save him as much as possible at this point, because we need him in the playoffs if we make it. 

[Mythos27]

You watch any runner in the league when they have running room and it'll be night and day compared to what they look like when they're bottled up. People grossly under-estimate the difference that good run blocking can make. Go back and watch the last two games and focus on Henry's negative plays and you'll see the same guy that posters were criticizing. 

[Huston]

17 minutes ago, Mythos27 said:

You watch any runner in the league when they have running room and it'll be night and day compared to what they look like when they're bottled up. People grossly under-estimate the difference that good run blocking can make. Go back and watch the last two games and focus on Henry's negative plays and you'll see the same guy that posters were criticizing. 

They are staying on their blocks much longer and sealing their guy off at an angle that allows Henry a little more time to chose his hole. Ive been very impressed with the Oline play, looks like they are finally understanding their roles in the zone scheme and throw in the Te's as well.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Huston

[titanruss]

Lewis looked terrible until the giants gave up at the end. 

 

[titanruss]

Lewis looked terrible until the giants gave up at the end. 

 

[nine]

5 hours ago, Mythos27 said:

You watch any runner in the league when they have running room and it'll be night and day compared to what they look like when they're bottled up. People grossly under-estimate the difference that good run blocking can make. Go back and watch the last two games and focus on Henry's negative plays and you'll see the same guy that posters were criticizing. 

 

There's a reason teams typically have their RB lined up 5-7 yards behind the LOS:    it's designed to let him get the ball and get a head of steam as he crosses the LOS.    On plays where the RB is hit or redirected behind the LOS. that momentum is gone;  he's basically hitting the LOS with zero momentum....which almost always fails.

 

A couple weeks ago, there was a graphic that had Henry ranked second-highest in the league at getting hit behind the LOS....something like 57% of his rushing attempts.   That's just straight-up abysmal O-line play.

 

But then in the Jags game, the O-line was consistently giving him 2-3 yards before behind touched by a defender...and he absolutely exploded.   The O-line was less spectacular in today's game...but they mostly locked up defenders and kept them engaged where they couldn't just peel off and hit the ballcarrier behind the LOS.   Even on plays where the running lanes were tight and almost non-existent...they managed to hold their blocks and tie guys up long enough for Henry to cross the LOS and navigate through the muck without being hit or grabbed.

 

Despite the assurances we've heard all season long....Henry doesn't require spectacular, dominant O-line play or gaping holes a mile wide.   He just needs the OL to do their jobs and execute their assignments more than 40% of time.   If they can dominate and get him 2-3 yards before contact....hey, great!    But as we saw today, they don't have to be utterly dominant for Henry to be highly effective.   They just need to execute well enough to keep the ballcarrier from getting hit behind the LOS.   If they can just get him across the LOS without getting hit....he can do the rest.

 

I believe everyone can agree Saquon Barkley is a spectacularly talented franchise-caliber RB...and he had been dominating for the past month.    But in today's game, he was routinely hit at or behind the LOS, rendering him utterly ineffective with a measly 2.2 YPC average.....not because he wasn't doing his job, but because his O-line failed to do theirs.

 

Is Henry running differently now that he was earlier in the season?   Sure, maybe.    But from a production standpoint, the single biggest difference has been the frequency with which he's hit at or behind the LOS.   We saw it in today's game and even in the Jags game last week.   He was ripping off one huge run after another, running over and through defenders left and right......but on plays where he was hit behind the LOS, he mostly did squat.

 

[NashvilleNinja]

3 hours ago, titanruss said:

Lewis looked terrible until the giants gave up at the end. 

 

Lewis didn't just look terrible, he looked invisible. As in, he wasn't really on the field much at all. And when he was? 0.6 ypc average.

 

There may be a universe where Lewis is a feature back in the offense, but this ain't that universe. The guy is shit between the tackles, and even in open space where he's supposed to be/has occasionally looked special in making guys miss he's been getting minimal gains before being wrapped up and dropped.

 

The idea that Lewis is or ever was a feature back is ludicrous. And now that Henry's sizable balls look like they may have finally dropped and the oline is finally throwing their weight around he will (hopefully) be used in a way more befitting his skillset. The pass catching gadget guy. Maybe he can get back to being the guy we decided to pay $5M a year to be.

Edited December 17, 2018 by NashvilleNinja

[titanruss]

56 minutes ago, NashvilleNinja said:

Lewis didn't just look terrible, he looked invisible. As in, he wasn't really on the field much at all. And when he was? 0.6 ypc average.

 

There may be a universe where Lewis is a feature back in the offense, but this ain't that universe. The guy is shit between the tackles, and even in open space where he's supposed to be/has occasionally looked special in making guys miss he's been getting minimal gains before being wrapped up and dropped.

 

The idea that Lewis is or ever was a feature back is ludicrous. And now that Henry's sizable balls look like they may have finally dropped and the oline is finally throwing their weight around he will (hopefully) be used in a way more befitting his skillset. The pass catching gadget guy. Maybe he can get back to being the guy we decided to pay $5M a year to be.

every carry lewis had, you just thought "well that was shitty" then Henry came in and would get a first down. and we'd keep chugging. 

 

its like the D's know how to bottle lewis up right now and he's pressing. he just needs to know he's a complimentary back and start running smarter, not looking for the big play (that he's not really fast enough to make anyhow)

 

 

[OILERMAN]

3 hours ago, nine said:

Is Henry running differently now that he was earlier in the season?   Sure, maybe.   

LOL

[charleytolar]

2 hours ago, titanruss said:

every carry lewis had, you just thought "well that was shitty" then Henry came in and would get a first down. and we'd keep chugging. 

I chuckled when Henry led us down the field on the opening drive. We hit the Red Zone and Lewis comes in. Drive stalls. Miss the FG. WTF?