A magic number may exist between Derrick Henry’s usage and the Ravens success in 2024

The Baltimore Ravens have had an interesting offseason and their biggest addition was no other than adding one of the better running backs in the NFL.

Derrick Henry has been a force for the last handful of years in the league and now the Ravens are pairing him with Lamar Jackson in the backfield.

One question that has been wondered is what will the usage be with Henry, when you add in the running ability that Jackson has.

"Well, I know this: If [Derrick Henry] carries it 300 times, we're having a hell of a year,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said last week. “I can tell you that. It means we're running it a lot. It means we're up in games. We want him to finish, [and] we want him to be the closer. First and foremost, like every player, we want him to make it through the season. It's a long season – 17 games. You've got a bye week in there, and then you go from there. So, we'll see how that goes.”

Henry has carried the ball 300 times three times in the last five seasons. He carried it 280 times last season and that was with the Titans rotating in rookie Tyjae Spears.

Running back by committee has been an approach of the Ravens for a few years now. Henry will be the guy at running back for Baltimore, but they’ll rotate in Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell to keep fresh legs.

I mean, he's been so durable. But I thought we did a good job last year of rotating the [running] backs. I mean, Gus [Edwards] was powerful, but we split the reps. Now, we had Keaton [Mitchell], who came on, and we had Justice [Hill] and those guys, but I still anticipate the same – of using all of our backs [and] trying to put them in the best position to be successful."

Baltimore recently wrapped up their first OTA sessions and Henry was able to get around the players and that is important. Henry has been doing this a while and he’s a veteran, but chemistry exists and is important in winning.

“He's a tremendous football player. He's been great. He's been here the whole offseason, and [it] doesn't really change anything per se because to me he's a really versatile player,” said Monken. “[We’re] not only running the ball but getting the ball in space and throwing him the ball and getting him out on the perimeter and see if some of your defensive backs can tackle him. That's why we're doing this now. That's why we're here now, to work through that and see what we have, because no one here has worked with him, so now, we're just seeing what that is and giving him those opportunities."

If Henry can be himself and the player that he is alongside Jackson in 2024, the sky is the limit for the offense and Baltimore as a whole.