Browns Grant Delpit hilariously explains how to prepare to tackle Ravens Derrick Henry

New Baltimore running back is having an MVP season

Thank you Jerry Jones. Thank you very much for not signing free agent running back Derrick Henry this past off-season when it was clear you needed running back help. Now that Henry has left the Tennessee Titans to become a roster member of the Baltimore Ravens, the Cleveland Browns get to see the talented back not once every four years, but twice a season as both clubs are members of the same division.

Thanks a lot, Jarah.

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This Sunday, the Browns (1-6-0) face off against the 5-2-0 Ravens for the first time this season in a home game. There’s not much chance Baltimore will forget to pack their key running back for the trip.

Henry (6’-3”, 247 pounds) is a four-time Pro Bowler who is destroying every team he has faced this year. Currently, he is leading the NFL in rushing with 873 yards, 206 yards more than the next guy on the list Jordan Mason who is filling in for the injured Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers.

Henry has the most attempts (134), most rushing touchdowns (8), most rushes for first downs (38), most yards from scrimmage (935), highest percentage on first down attempts (28.4%), highest yards per carry average (6.5), highest yards per game average (124.7), most rushes 20+ yards (10), third most rushes 40+ yards (3), and the longest run from scrimmage at 87 yards. He also has caught two touchdown passes and is a dependable blocker when held in.

In “Next Gen Stats” under the category of “Remarkable Rushes”, in the Top-20 Henry’s name is listed multiple times with three. His top speed has been clocked at 21.72 MPH.

And now, the Browns defense which was ranked at the top just a year ago is about to find out if their game plan to corral this talented back is correct.

Did anyone mention that the Ravens are currently on a five-game winning streak?

If Henry continues his average of 124.7 yards per game, at season’s end he will have accumulated 2,120 yards this year. The 2,000-yard plateau has only been broken eight times in NFL history, including Henry’s 2020 season in which he gained 2,027 yards in a 16-game season good enough for fifth-most overall. Henry was named the “NFL Offensive Player of the Year” because of this feat. This time around, he is aided with an extra game if he remains healthy.

The NFL record is 2,105 yards set by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams back in 1984 during 16 games. It was Dickerson’s second year in the league. With the extra game added, NFL fans just may see a new single-season rushing leader.

Through seven games, only one other player has had that many total yards coupled with that high yards-per-carry average: Jim Brown in 1963.

For the Browns, all this 2,000-yard season is nonsense if DC Jim Schwartz can be brilliant once again and devise a way to contain the big back.

Cleveland safety Grant Delpit has come up with a plan to help the Browns’ defense prepare for the pounding that they know is coming.

Delpit stated:

“We’re just going to put Dawand (Jones) back there on the scout team and have him give us a couple of looks.”

That just may work. Jones is listed as 6-8”, 374 pounds and may not have the running skills like Henry, but that is not the point. He isn’t shifty and isn’t going to juke anyone. That isn’t the point, either.

It’s preparing for the load. It’s preparing for the collision you know is coming. It’s preparing for the bounce-back and the bounce-off effect. It’s preparing to hang on until help arrives.

Henry had 199 yards rushing against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4 who have a defensive head coach. He tallied 169 yards in the opening game versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers whose coach is also a defensive mind. 151 on the Dallas Cowboys, 132 ripped off on the Washington Commanders whose new head coach specializes in defensive strategies, and 92 on the Cincinnati Bengals.

It’s not like the Browns haven’t faced Henry before. Last year in Week 3, Cleveland defeated the Titans convincingly 27-3 at home. Henry had 11 rushing attempts for 20 yards. In 2020, Cleveland once again beat the Titans this time 41-35. Henry had 15 attempts for 60 yards and never found the end zone. The year before, Tennessee won big 43-13 on opening day as Henry had 84 yards on 19 carries and scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown.

Henry is known for being hard to tackle and possessing a mean stiff arm. Gang tackling will work, but a single attack in the open field will only get you embarrassed on YouTube.

Delpit added:

“He’s big, you know. He’s pretty big, he’s got size.”

One thing is for certain: this year’s defensive offering is not last year’s group. Tackling seems to be an issue each week with a lot of shoulder dives and not wrapping up. None of this will solve the problem of taking down Henry. Currently, Cleveland ranks #19 in missed tackles with 26.

Cleveland defenders will need a subway pass if they intend on jumping on his shoulder pads because a long ride will be in store. Taking out his legs is the only recourse.

The Browns are giving up an average of 126.1 rushing yards per game this year and ranked #17 against the run allowing 4.4 yards per carry on average and 50 rushes for first downs.

Baltimore leads the NFL in rushing this year with 1,476 yards featuring a two-headed beast of Henry coupled with QB Lamar Jackson and his ability to gain yardage with his legs. The Ravens were the #1 rushing team in the league in 2023 as well without Henry on the roster.

At almost the halfway mark of the 2024 NFL season, already Jackson and Henry are being discussed as MVP candidates.

Whatever worked for Schwartz in last year’s contest holding Henry to 20 yards, he needs to dust off those files with that game plan.

The only problem is, the Baltimore Ravens are not the Tennessee Titans.