Derrick Henry is a running back anomaly. The Baltimore Ravens star is 6-foot-3, 247 pounds. He doesn't provide much in the passing game, but nobody wants to get in front of him when he is carrying the football.
Henry exceeded a lot of expectations in his first season on a Ravens team that has a running quarterback and uses a lot of run-pass options in their play calling. As a downhill runner, that style of play hadn't typically been Henry's forte throughout his career.
Henry is 31 years old, so the annually expected fantasy football drop-off in production has to come eventually. Will that happen this year, or will Henry once again put up big numbers on the gridiron and in fantasy leagues?
Derrick Henry's 2024 fantasy football statistics
Henry had a resurgence of a season in his first year away from the Tennessee Titans. The former 2,000-yard rusher nearly surpassed that jaw-dropping threshold once more, as he ran for 1,921 yards.
King Henry added 16 rushing touchdowns to that total as well. This was the fourth time that Henry surpassed 300 attempts, the fourth time that he had more than 1,500 yards, and the fourth time that he had 13-plus rushing touchdowns.
Henry only has 174 career receptions, but he regularly leads the league or comes close to being first in rushing attempts. That makes him a great fantasy choice in standard leagues, but managers have to think twice before drafting him in PPR formats.
Henry had 317.4 standard fantasy points last season in comparison to 336.4 PPR points. That was good for second place among running backs in standard leagues, but Henry didn't add much to his scoring total when receptions count as a full point.
Derrick Henry's 2025 fantasy football projection
Henry's style of play isn't expected to change, so ESPN predicts him to take a sizable step back in terms of production. Projections have Henry running for 1,529 yards, still a great number but not nearly as impressive as what he did last year. However, Henry is such a tank that the projections have him crossing the goal line 15 times.
Henry hasn't slowed down yet, and considering opposing teams always have to focus on Lamar Jackson, defenses won't be able to home in on the running back.
Jackson is arguably the best rushing quarterback in NFL history. The mileage will eventually catch up to Henry, but that could still be a few years away because the Alabama product is simply built differently than most running backs.
Fantasy football running back rankings
Henry is commonly ranked between RB4 to RB7 ahead of the 2025 fantasy football season. He has an average draft position of 10.4. Fans typically know what they are going to get with Henry. He is reliable and always stays healthy, and he is often good for close to one rushing touchdown a game.
The Ravens will force-feed him the football, but they will rarely target him in the passing attack. Fantasy managers also have to worry about Justice Hill, who had a bigger role than expected last year.
Even so, Baltimore's ground-and-pound style will afford Henry plenty of reps. The all-time great running back has a high floor, but regression is possible, and a lack of pass-catching limits his ceiling in PPR leagues. Henry might be a reach in round one, but he could be a steal in round two.
