Zeke vs Derrick Henry (Final Numbers)

[LACowboysFan1]

Zeke:

244 att, 979 yds, 6 tds

Henry:

378 att, 2,027 yds, 17 tds

Nice year Henry!

Now let's see you do that again. The NFL is full of backs that had the one great year, then fell off dramatically. Chris Johnson 2,006 in 2009, 1,364 the next year.
Henry's a bigger back, may be able to handle a big amount of carries in 2021, but we'll see....

 

[aria]

My point is....when our OL was healthy....Zeke is fine. Defenses sit on the run game...much like they have for Zekes entire career....and his body has paid the price. He and his agent were smart to get their money...because Garrett was going to give it to him 450 times a year and beat the hell out of him. Instead of designing a balanced attack that considered the long term careers of our OL, WRs, RB and QB! That is where most of our draft capital and cap dollars have been spent...and Garrett leaned on their sheer talent. We are now paying for that.

Zeke could have tapped out and not played several games this year. Smith and Collins did not play. Frederick has retired. And Martin did not play....much like Zeke could have done. Zeke is beat up. Our OL is beat up. The expectations for ALL of them need to be adjusted.

zeke did tap out of several plays, I’ve never seen any player for any position take himself out of a game as much as he has.

Did I miss something in zeke’s contract about him needing a top 5-10 O line to be worth what we’re paying him? Most starting RB’s would have put up similar numbers or better if they had the same O line zeke has had 4 out of 5 years in his career. Why is he being paying to be a difference maker if he’s completely reliant on the O line?

I like how people now bash JG for the way he used zeke but 1) had he not used zeke as much as he did then zeke wouldn’t have all those worthless fancy rushing titles that his fans like to brag about and 2) his fans used to use his durability as a strength, a reason why he was so great but now it’s the coaches fault he’s breaking down?

 

[csirl]

If you're paid as much as Zeke, you need to get close to 2,000 yards from scrimmage each season (dont care about the ratio of rushing to pass receiving).

 

[aria]

Nice year Henry!

Now let's see you do that again. The NFL is full of backs that had the one great year, then fell off dramatically. Chris Johnson 2,006 in 2009, 1,364 the next year.
Henry's a bigger back, may be able to handle a big amount of carries in 2021, but we'll see....

Well this will be the 2nd year in a row he’s led the league.

I doubt he’ll get 2K again, do you know if any RB has ever got 2K yards two yeas in a row? Even if healthy it seems that would be very hard to do due to so many different variables that are out of the players comtrol.

 

[jterrell]

You my friend....get it. When this offense was healthy...no one was touting Henry over Zeke.

But I get it....when you stink like we have the last couple of years....people want someone to blame. But the blame really lies in the owners box and the current offensive coordinator for the Giants

Also about tread on tires.
Henry was in great physical shape and working out like a beast his entire life to get 100 carries his first couple seasons.
Zeke was carrying it 350 times and leading the league in yards rushing.

It's not shocking that turned around anymore than it is CMC was injured much of this year after leading the free world in yards from scrimmage last year.
Anybody who's ever played fantasy knows how tough it is on RB.
Guy will win you a league one year then you gotta bench him the next lol. --I still have nightmares of Arian Foster's fall off the cliff.

 

[aria]

Also about tread on tires.
Henry was in great physical shape and working out like a beast his entire life to get 100 carries his first couple seasons.
Zeke was carrying it 350 times and leading the league in yards rushing.

It's not shocking that turned around anymore than it is CMC was injured much of this year after leading the free world in yards from scrimmage last year.
Anybody who's ever played fantasy knows how tough it is on RB.
Guy will win you a league one year then you gotta bench him the next lol. --I still have nightmares of Arian Foster's fall off the cliff.

And yet a lot of his fans still thought Jerrah was smart for paying him. That contract is probably in the rop 5 of all time worst contracts ever made in Cowboys history, great job Jerry!

 

[USArmyVet]

My point is....when our OL was healthy....Zeke is fine. Defenses sit on the run game...much like they have for Zekes entire career....and his body has paid the price. He and his agent were smart to get their money...because Garrett was going to give it to him 450 times a year and beat the hell out of him. Instead of designing a balanced attack that considered the long term careers of our OL, WRs, RB and QB! That is where most of our draft capital and cap dollars have been spent...and Garrett leaned on their sheer talent. We are now paying for that.

Zeke could have tapped out and not played several games this year. Smith and Collins did not play. Frederick has retired. And Martin did not play....much like Zeke could have done. Zeke is beat up. Our OL is beat up. The expectations for ALL of them need to be adjusted.

Zeke carries by year:

2016: 322
2017: 242
2018: 304
2019: 301
2020: 244

Zeke was given a contract extension just before the 2019 season so show me where Zeke was going to get the ball 450 times given his carries have never exceeded that of his rookie season and in fact if you look his carries have not gone up because Dak's pass attempts have dramatically gone up so no clue as to your assertion.

As for Zeke not 'tapping out' and using other players injuries:

Frederick retired due to an auto-immune disease that impacts his nervous system
Smith was lost for the season due to a neck injury and need for neck surgery
Collins was lost for the season due to a hip injury and need for hip surgery
Martin was lost for the season due to a calf injury

So again no clue as to your comparison assertion of Zeke to them given all Zeke dealt with was a sore hamstring which the medical staff apparently felt was not a major injury. That said, Zeke actually did sit out the 3rd to last game of the season.

 

[cmoney23]

On the whole, Zeke has more rush yards, yards per game, more receptions, rec yards, rec yards per game, more yards from scrimmage.

You can look at a year where zeke missed a game, was obviously dinged up, was with a back up QB, 3rd string tackles, and a **** OL vs the leagues leading rusher with none of those challenges for a season and it'll look a certain way.

 

[Zordon]

The real test for Derrick Henry will be next season.
The NFL has not been kind to guys who have had this many rush attempts in subsequent seasons.
Certainly weren't to Zeke the last 2 years after this early heavy usage.

Henry works out like a madman at a Dallas performance facility in the off-season and reportedly lives a very low key lifestyle. He is the antithesis of our sideshow bob running back who according to my sources is in Uptown several days a week. Henry will be fine. The burst he showed yesterday on the long run was impressive as hell for Week 17.

 

[USArmyVet]

Nice year Henry!

Now let's see you do that again. The NFL is full of backs that had the one great year, then fell off dramatically. Chris Johnson 2,006 in 2009, 1,364 the next year.
Henry's a bigger back, may be able to handle a big amount of carries in 2021, but we'll see....

2018: 1,059 Yards 4.9 YPC 12 TD's

2019: 1,540 Yards 5.1 YPC 16 TD's

2020: 2,027 Yards 5.4 YPC 17 TD's


He actually has had 3 great years in a row with each year better than the last.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

If you're paid as much as Zeke, you need to get close to 2,000 yards from scrimmage each season (dont care about the ratio of rushing to pass receiving).

Zeke can only play as well as he can, how much he gets paid has nothing to do with it. If you pay some undrafted division II running back the same as Zeke you would expect 2,000 yards from him too? You must because "he gets paid $X a year".

Yes Zeke had an off year, after 4 really good ones, nobody knows if he can return to form next year, I think there's a good chance he can. He's too young, and if you want to factor in money, paid too much to not see if he can....

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Henry will be fine.

How many times has that been said about a multitude of players? Many, many times. But they weren't "fine" the next year.

Yes he might, but it's nowhere near guaranteed...

 

[jterrell]

Henry works out like a madman at a Dallas performance facility in the off-season and reportedly lives a very low key lifestyle. He is the antithesis of our sideshow bob running back who according to my sources is in Uptown several days a week. Henry will be fine. The burst he showed yesterday on the long run was impressive as hell for Week 17.

And how did that help him in his first two seasons in the league?

End of day RB generally have short shelf lives. All of them work hard; quite hard.

I am pretty sure you'd die during a basic Zeke workout so perhaps let that one go.

 

[USArmyVet]

Also about tread on tires.
Henry was in great physical shape and working out like a beast his entire life to get 100 carries his first couple seasons.
Zeke was carrying it 350 times and leading the league in yards rushing.

It's not shocking that turned around anymore than it is CMC was injured much of this year after leading the free world in yards from scrimmage last year.
Anybody who's ever played fantasy knows how tough it is on RB.
Guy will win you a league one year then you gotta bench him the next lol. --I still have nightmares of Arian Foster's fall off the cliff.

Zeke has NEVER had 350 rushes in a season. His career high was 322 his rookie season and he exceeded 300 carries in 2 of his 4 seasons after that with the other 2 seasons being around 240 carries.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

2018: 1,059 Yards 4.9 YPC 12 TD's

2019: 1,540 Yards 5.1 YPC 16 TD's

2020: 2,027 Yards 5.4 YPC 17 TD's


He actually has had 3 great years in a row with each year better than the last.

And Zeke had 4 great years (factoring out his stats for the year Goodell suspended him to 16 games), so if he's now "worn out", then we'll have to wait until 2022 to see if Henry does the same.

I agree Henry's great now, will be interesting to see if he can keep it up...

 

[USArmyVet]

And how did that help him in his first two seasons in the league?

End of day RB generally have short shelf lives. All of them work hard; quite hard.

I am pretty sure you'd die during a basic Zeke workout so perhaps let that one go.

You do realize that in his rookie year after being selected in the 2nd round Henry was a back-up to DeMarco Murray who rushed 293 times, right? Oh, and in Henry's 2nd year Murray had 184 carries so there's that.

Finally, for his career Derrick Henry's lowest season Yards Per Carry average was 4.2 in 2017 and has increased every year since to a high this year of 5.7 Yards Per Carry.

 

[aria]

On the whole, Zeke has more rush yards, yards per game, more receptions, rec yards, rec yards per game, more yards from scrimmage.

You can look at a year where zeke missed a game, was obviously dinged up, was with a back up QB, 3rd string tackles, and a **** OL vs the leagues leading rusher with none of those challenges for a season and it'll look a certain way.

You can also look at the bulk of his career when he’s had one of the best O lines in the league, rookie of the year QB, and one of the best receiving cores in the NFL. Now she has one year when she has to face some adversity and she crumbles like the diva she is.

What a leader! Although he did get that sweet little award for talking to the beat writers so kudos zeke, we’re all very proud of you.

 

[jterrell]

Zeke has NEVER had 350 rushes in a season. His career high was 322 his rookie season and he exceeded 300 carries in 2 of his 4 seasons after that with the other 2 seasons being around 240 carries.

Zeke's touches per season:
354 (yards per touch) 5.6
268 (suspn 6 games) 4.7
381 5.0
355 5.0
296 4.4

After his back to back 350+ touch seasons he fell off to 4.4 yards per touch this year. Partially because we had an entire Ol on IR but also almost certainly because of wear and tear.

Henry:
123 5.1
187 4.7
230 5.0
321 5.4
397 5.4

So yes I think it's fair to say it will be interesting to see how Henry looks next year and Zeke as well now that he fell under 300 touches.

 

[jterrell]

You do realize that in his rookie year after being selected in the 2nd round Henry was a back-up to DeMarco Murray who rushed 293 times, right? Oh, and in Henry's 2nd year Murray had 184 carries so there's that.

Finally, for his career Derrick Henry's lowest season Yards Per Carry average was 4.2 in 2017 and has increased every year since to a high this year of 5.7 Yards Per Carry.

You do realize Murray was begging to come back to Dallas when they drafted Zeke and gave him all those carries right?
They knew he was worn down already because they did the wearing.

 

[USArmyVet]

And Zeke had 4 great years (factoring out his stats for the year Goodell suspended him to 16 games), so if he's now "worn out", then we'll have to wait until 2022 to see if Henry does the same.

I agree Henry's great now, will be interesting to see if he can keep it up...

Zeke has actually seen his total rushing yards and yards per carry decline since his rookie season:

2016: 1,631 Yards 5.1 YPC

2017: 983 Yards 4.1 YPC (he was suspended 6 games this season and was averaging 24.2 carries per game so adjusted he would be at 1,573 Yards)

2018: 1,434 Yards 4.7 YPC

2019: 1,357 Yards 4.5 YPC

2020: 979 Yards 4.0 YPC


While Zeke was putting up the yards in his first few years my point is that while Henry is consistently improving his yards rushing and yards per carry Zeke is actually declining. You can point to whatever you want in terms of o-line injuries, etc. but the o-line only truly suffered a major injury bug collapse this season but Zeke has been declining prior to this season.