Darrell Henderson’s emergence gives Rams plenty to think about at RB
The Rams came into the season with a true committee of running backs behind Jared Goff in the backfield. Cam Akers got the start in Week 1, but Malcolm Brown got more carries than he did in the opener. Akers started again in Week 2, but after getting injured, it was Darrell Henderson’s day.
Henderson was made the starter in Week 3 against the Bills with Akers out, and he may not let go of that role moving forward. He rushed for a career-high 114 yards on 20 carries in the team’s 35-32 loss, punching one run in for a touchdown, as well.
He had five runs of at least 10 yards, with his longest picking up 14. This wasn’t a matter of Henderson breaking off one long run and struggling on his other 19 carries. It was just the opposite, with the second-year back keeping the Rams ahead of the sticks with almost every carry.
On a day when Akers was out and Brown only rushed for 19 yards on seven carries, Henderson’s emergence was exactly what the Rams needed. His last two games of 100-plus yards from scrimmage haven’t surprised Sean McVay, however.
“He did a great job. I’m not surprised,” he said after the game. “I think he built on a really good performance from the previous week. He ran hard, leveled his pads off. I thought the touchdown run to put us up was a big time run, just running through a lot of traffic, a lot of bodies at the goal line. He made a lot of plays. He’s going to continue to make a lot of plays and I’ve been very pleased with Darrell over the last couple of weeks.”
The question now becomes whether the Rams continue to ride the hot hand with Henderson next week or if they turn back to Akers as the starter if he’s able to play against the Giants in Week 4. When they committed to this committee approach, the Rams knew one player might pull ahead as the clear-cut starter. Henderson may not be at that point yet, but he’s getting awfully close.
Jared Goff liked what he saw from Henderson, but also from the Rams’ offensive line, which opened up holes consistently.
“Our O-line played really well and them giving him some big holes and he’s a good runner,” Goff said Sunday. “He’s a really good runner. He runs downhill and he’s obviously super fast and sees it well – really sees it well and he really fits what we do up front and has done a great job these last two weeks. I’m excited about his progression.”
Akers is undoubtedly going to remain an important part of this offense, but he has such a limited sample size up to this point that it will be difficult to take touches away from Henderson.
Henderson ranks sixth among all running backs with an average of 6.5 yards per touch, which is more than Todd Gurley has ever averaged in a single season. It’s still early and that number will retreat back to a more reasonable level, but Henderson is creating big plays for the offense, which is something they lacked at running back last season.
This may be Henderson’s backfield until he begins to struggle or Akers breaks out in a significant way.
