How good of a fit is Derrick Henry in Baltimore?

• Henry is the master of outside zone and duo: Among 118 running backs who had at least 100 carries on either duo or outside zone since 2016, Henry ranks second with a 91.9 PFF rushing grade.

• The Ravens have primarily deployed counter and power recently: Henry didn't see much counter or power in Tennessee, and he also did not generate great numbers on those run concepts.

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We will not have to wait for long to see one of 2024's most exciting free-agent acquisitions in action. Derrick Henry, Baltimore’s new running back, will make his Ravens debut in the opening game on Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. While his playing in Baltimore’s offense with two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson has a lot of potential, it might take some adjustments, either from Henry or from the Ravens' offense.

Since entering the league in 2016, Henry has played the fifth-most snaps among running backs — and will most likely surpass 4,000 regular-season snaps on Thursday night. Among 64 running backs with at least 1,500 snaps over that period, the Alabama product’s 95.0 PFF overall grade is the highest.

He was especially efficient on two run concepts that the Titans relied heavily on: duo and outside zone. The former is a downhill running scheme where Henry can get to full speed by the time he gets to the line of scrimmage and a running scheme, if properly blocked, that isolates the running back on the opponent’s cornerback, which is a favorable matchup if your running back is as powerful as Derrick Henry. On the other hand, outside zone is more of a horizontal running scheme where the running back needs to make one cut after reading the blocks. And then he could be gone.

Among 118 running backs who had at least 100 carries on either duo or outside zone since 2016, Henry ranks 10th with 4.9 yards per carry and second with a 91.9 PFF rushing grade. He gained at least 10 yards on 12.5% of these carries. However, the Ravens have not been using these run concepts lately, be that with former offensive coordinator Greg Roman or last year with Todd Monken. In recent seasons, Baltimore leaned heavily into using pulling offensive linemen, something they did more than any other team in the NFL. Over the past three seasons, they lead the league both in the usage of power (one pulling offensive lineman) and counter (more than one pulling player from the backside, including an offensive lineman).

Henry didn't see much counter or power in Tennessee, and he also did not generate great numbers on those run concepts. Among 39 running backs with at least 100 such carries since 2016, he ranks just 27th in yards per carry (4.3) on such plays. Compared to his 12.5% 10-plus-yard rate on duo and outside zone, he gained at least 10 yards on only 8.8% of power and counter carries. It will be interesting to see whether Monken adjusts his offense’s running philosophy and uses fewer run plays with pulling linemen — or if Henry can quickly adjust to this blocking scheme in 2024.

Another factor to consider is how well Henry and quarterback Lamar Jackson will complement each other and how much stress the two of them can put on defenses. The best way to take advantage of this has been using read option, which the Ravens have deployed more — 470 times — than any other team in the NFL over the past three seasons.

Read option might not cater to Henry’s strengths in the run game, as it delays him getting to full speed and makes him hesitate at the mesh point. Sixty-one running backs carried the ball at least 50 times following a read option since 2016, and Henry ranks just 29th with 4.2 yards per carry on those rushes. He picked up at least 10 yards on just eight of those 107 carries, which is only a 7.5% clip.

Overall, Henry is still among the best running backs in the entire NFL and will be put in one of the league's top offenses. But on a deeper level, we can expect that there will be some growing pains and this running game might not be as effective in the first couple weeks of the 2024 season as many expect it to be.