Where does Derrick Henry stand among all-time NFL rushing leaders?

Through his first five NFL seasons, Tennessee Titans star running back Derrick Henry has developed into one of the game’s best talents.

The Alabama product transitioned from a highly successful collegiate that included winning a national championship and a Heisman Trophy award to becoming one of the NFL’s top players.

Derrick Henry is making a case to be one of the all-time great running backs

Henry worked his way up from a shared role in the backfield alongside DeMarco Murray before eventually grabbing hold of the reins as the clear-cut starter in Tennessee. He’s transformed into a dominant factor running the ball, and has come off back-to-back campaigns leading the league in rushing and rushing touchdowns.

The 27-year-old was off to an incredibly productive start in the 2021 season, leading the league with 937 rushing yards on 219 carries with 10 rushing touchdowns. However, it came to a crashing halt after he suffered a Jones fracture in his right foot in Sunday’s overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Henry was projected to finish with 1,874 rushing yards and a career-best 20 touchdowns. In the previous five games, he recorded 584 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. He registered five games with at least 100 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns three times.

As he’s set to miss the rest of the 2021 season, it begs the question about where he ranks on the all-time rushing yard list. Heading into Week 9, Henry sits 71st with 6,797 rushing yards.

He’s currently just under 200 rushing yards behind Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott to move into 65th place. It’s certainly a disappointing close to Henry’s season as he was positioned to move well past 7,000 career rushing yards.

If he can return fully healthy without any setbacks, he should have a chance to move well past that mark in 2022 as he will be the central focus of the Titans’ offensive game plan.

It’s hard to gage how long he can perform at an elite level due to the wear and tear running backs experience, seeing a notable decline after the age of 30. Henry still possesses a few more seasons before he reaches that point, but his size and strength should help him remain among the top producing running backs for the foreseeable future. Health permitting, Henry holds the chance to push his way up the list toward becoming one of the most productive players in his position in league history.

Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson holds the chance to climb up the all-time list as he replaces Henry this season as the primary back in Tennessee. Peterson is 450 yards away from surpassing Hall of Famer Barry Sanders for third all-time.