Is something wrong with Titans’ Derrick Henry?

Yahoo Sports' Matt Harmon, Dalton Del Don and Andy Behrens chat about Derrick Henry's performance this season.

Video Transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

ANDY BEHRENS: I mean, I really-- I just think it's one of the biggest questions in fantasy right now is the health of Derrick Henry. He's playing, but in the last four weeks, he has, like, the fifth most carries among all running backs, and he's 20th in rushing yards. 2.8 yards per carry during that stretch. Has one touchdown. His longest run has been 10 yards.

Like, that's the-- we think of Derrick Henry just like mowing people down going 70 yards, right? Stiff arm, stiff arm. None of that has happened in a month. And he's had some respectable matchups, too, right? Like matchups that we thought he was really gonna be able to exploit.

And so, like, the discussion that we were having pre-show was sort of trying to read the tea leaves to figure out, you know, is he hurt? If he is hurt, what is it? 'Cause there was-- before all this started, before this stretch of games started, there was a practice week that he sat like every day of the practice week. But the team said, oh, it's non-injury-related.

It feels like they are probably hiding an injury, which, of course, they're not supposed to. You would expect him to pop up on the injury report. But, like, the usage has been there. It's just none of the results have been there.

MATT HARMON: I'm looking at the week 14 injury report. He is on the injury report, but, again, it says limited participation in practice, not injury-related, which, couple of things here. If there's one thi-- I've learned a lot, obviously, talking with Austin Ekeler for the show every week. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that, like, these-- the fantasy bros out there that are, like, living and dying by the injury report, and you think you've cracked some code by, oh, this pattern in the injury report will really help me predict participation during the game or effectiveness during the game.

I'm sorry, but these teams are lying to you with the injury report. They're playing games with the injury report. Like you said, Andy, they're not supposed to. But they do, and there's stuff that, like-- I mean, Ekeler gets on the show, and he's like, I got this wrong, I got this wrong, I got this wrong, I got this wrong.

You pull up on the injury report, and it's like, Austin Ekeler, full participation in practice. You know, no injury designation. So, yeah, Derrick Henry could easily be dealing with something that is limiting him, and you'll never know it.

Like, you'll get the report after the season that, oh, Derrick Henry is undergoing some surgery or whatever, some cleanup thing. But you'll never know. So this idea that we are, like, oh, we've really cracked the code. Like, if you just wait till the Friday injury report, now you'll know everything. You don't know-- you don't know a damn thing with this injury report.

DALTON DEL DON: So, on one hand here, you can draw a direct line to that weirdness, him missing practice and then the sudden drop in production. And it is dramatic without question. But then I'd push back a little on Andy and say that three of those last four opponents have been tough.

The Broncos have a good run defense. The Bengals have the toughest success rate with DJ Reader on the field. And the Eagles have totally revamped that line. And the other game was against the Packers, and he scored 25 points, albeit one of those was a pass.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, right.

DALTON DEL DON: And he did have that long play where he fumbled at the goal line. It was a long reception. Now, having said that, Pat Thorman tweet we referenced yesterday-- it was like, this is his first game in forever without breaking a tackle, last week. Now that big Q mark is showing up on this week's matchup, which could make a big decision for people playing DFS.

I mean, here's a Graham Barfield tweet. In Titans' wins this year, "He's averaging 21.4 fantasy points" and just 12 points in losses. And this week, that spread's creeping 4 points if they're at home. If Lawrence sits out against Jacksonville, no Treylon Burks, I mean, this could be a really, really nice setup for Henry here, if he's healthy again, though. So I could see both sides here, and it's an interesting one.

MATT HARMON: And these next three games, not only could they win all three games. They are all-- especially the two following Jacksonville, they're all absolute cakewalk run defense matchups. I mean, they get Jacksonville this week.

DALTON DEL DON: Chargers.

MATT HARMON: Then they get the Chargers. Then they get the Texans. Like, this shou-- you know, we always, when he first popped up on the fantasy scene, it was like Derrick Henry was "D-Henber," right? Or it was December-- D-Henber, the whole thing.

Like, this is his month. This should be his month, the 11th, the 18th, the 24th. Christmas Eve should be his big party, just dropping an absolute hammer on the damn Texans. But, again, I come back to the injury report thing.

And this might just-- like this is the-- there might be something going on that we just don't know about. And, like, guys, I feel silly having this whole big discussion about it, because, at one point, in some sense-- like, I know I told you this yesterday, Dalton.

But, Andy, somebody asked me in my Discord, like, is it time to panic on Derrick Henry? I'm like, I don't know what panicking is gonna-- like, I don't know what good end panicking's gonna do you because you're still playing Derrick Henry. And there's no trade deadline, right, coming up? You better-- you must be absolutely spoiled at running back if you can sit there and say, yeah, this matchup against the Chargers, I'm gonna go ahead and sit Derrick Henry next week. So good luck with that.

But I don't know, it's just worth talking about to manage the-- I guess managing expectations for daily fantasy, for any prop betting stuff. There's just something going on with the Titans' running back. Whether it's injury-related or not, something's up, and we gotta-- I don't know. We have to unpack it.