Pundit Says It's 'Almost Inevitable' Derrick Henry Will Lead NFL in Rushing
Could Derrick Henry defy the odds and lead the NFL rushing this season at age 30?
Only two running backs have led the league in rushing at 30 or older in the Super Bowl era: Curtis Martin, 31, in 2004; and Adrian Peterson, 30, in 2015.
In the "Overreaction Monday" segment on "The Rich Eisen Show," Eisen and co-host Chris Brockman agreed that Henry accomplishing the feat in 2024 is not an overreaction.
"Derrick Henry's going to lead the league in rushing yards. I think it's almost inevitable," Brockman said. "Christian McCaffrey led last year with [1,459 yards]. Tell me Derrick Henry can't get that this year behind that Ravens line and with the Lamar [Jackson] threat. … He's still getting six, seven yards before he even gets touched."
Eisen said: "I don't think that's an overreaction either. … It would be great by the way at age 30 for him to say to everybody that believes in this axiom that all the front offices around the National Football league [do], 'Guess what, I am a freak of nature and you're not.'"
Henry led the league in rushing in 2019 and 2020 and was second in 2022 and 2023. He was limited to eight games due to injury in 2021 and still finished ninth with 937 yards.
Henry's trainer, former NBA player Melvin Sanders, believes Henry, who is entering his ninth season, is "better right now than he was in year four and five."
"He's a lot stronger now. He's a lot more mobile. He's able to move better. His lateral quickness is better," Sanders told our Ryan Mink. "He's just a stronger athlete now. I can literally show you videos from like 2019 and you'd be like, 'Holy [crap].'"
Three Players Who Have Stood Out at Training Camp
With the first two weeks of Ravens training camp over, Press Box’s Bo Smolka identified which players have stood out.
Here's a look at three players Smolka recognized:
CB Jalyn Armour-Davis
"During a red zone period a week ago, Armour-Davis had good position on a pass intended for tight end Mark Andrews and grabbed the interception. A few days later, he ran stride for stride with rookie receiver Isaiah Washington and broke up a pass in a 3-on-3 drill and later had Sean Ryan blanketed down the middle to force an incompletion. Plays like that have been the rule and not the exception this summer for Armour-Davis, who has played with increasing confidence and has asserted himself as one of the best defenders in camp.
"Armour-Davis has appeared in just 12 of 34 games during his first two seasons, both of which ended with him on injured reserve. If he can stay healthy and show the kind of coverage skills and nose for the ball he has demonstrated so far in camp, Armour-Davis will find himself in the rotation at outside cornerback."
TE Isaiah Likely
"One offensive player who consistently stepped up across both weeks was Likely, the third-year tight end who is hoping to build on his second half of the 2023 season. … During the camp drill featuring pass catchers against defenders in one-on-one matchups, battles between Likely and safety Kyle Hamilton have consistently been among the best. Some days, Likely has outdueled Hamilton, and some days vice versa, but Likely said the two usually get together afterward and review the reps, which make both better.
"Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken said he wants to get his best playmakers on the field, and Likely this summer continues to look like one of them. Expect to see a lot of two-tight-end looks with both Andrews and Likely on the field."
OLB Odafe Oweh
"At one point during the first week of camp, John Harbaugh said he 'had to pull the reins in' on Oweh, telling him not to get too close to the quarterback. … Defenders aren't allowed to sack the quarterback in training camp practices, but if they were, Oweh would have had at least one sack every practice the first week. He beat tackles on both sides, and he won on stunts up the middle against the Ravens' revamped offensive line. Oweh also did a nice job setting the edge against the run at times, forcing running backs to turn inside where players such as Travis Jones — another camp standout — was ready to bury them.
"Oweh was a little quieter in the second week, during more intense padded practices, but the Ravens have to love what they have seen from him so far as they still face concerns about the depth of the edge rush group."
Ravens Assistant Coach Megan Rosburg 'Capable of Breaking Glass Ceilings'
During Baltimore's dominant win at Cleveland in Week 4 last season, several members of the Ravens' defensive line repeated a phrase delivered by an assistant coach the day before: "Every good story needs a villain!" Roquan Smith also said it in a post-game interview after the Ravens' AFC divisional round win.
The line came from Assistant to the Head Coach/Defensive Assistant Megan Rosburg, who was the subject of a feature article by The Athletic's Tashan Reed. She is entering her third season as an NFL coach and is one of 12 full-time female coaches in the NFL.
Rosburg, 31, is the daughter of Jerry Rosburg, the Ravens' special teams coordinator/assistant head coach from 2008-2018. She told Reed that seeing the players galvanize around her message affirmed that they respected her just like any other coach on staff.
"At the end of the day, it's all about the players," she said. "Whether you're a female coach or a male coach, your resume is what they do on tape. If you can give the players information or give them an advantage to help them win on Sunday, they will trust you and they will respect you. If you're genuine and you do things that will help them win and help them prolong their career, it doesn't matter what you look like. … If you're real with them and you can help them, they'll trust you as their coach."
Anthony Weaver, who worked with Rosburg the past two seasons during his stint as defensive line coach, believes Rosburg has a bright future in the league.
"As her confidence grows and her knowledge of the game grows in terms of the schematics, I don't think it's unreasonable to see her growing into a position coach and maybe one day even being a coordinator," Weaver said. "You talk about someone that's capable of breaking glass ceilings — if I was going to bet on somebody, I'd have no problem putting money on her."
Quick Hits
Yesterday's Most Read: Practice Report: Ar'Darius Washington Caps His Pick-Six With a Backflip
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