Derrick Henry

Week 9 at Pittsburgh Steelers
Derrick Henry had a great game on Sunday when he saw 26 touches and racked up 122 total yards, but perhaps most encouraging for his fantasy prospects moving forward was Will Levis' strong NFL debut. Henry appeared to be at risk of a total structural collapse for the Tennessee offense following Ryan Tannehill's injury, but Levis looked far better in his one-game sample than Tannehill has all season. If Levis is going to be a long-term solution at QB, Henry will be one of the primary beneficiaries as he is still seeing the vast majority of the backfield touches for Tennessee. Levis, Henry, and company travel to Pittsburgh for a tough road game in Week 9, but the Steelers have been below-average in suppressing opposing RB production in 2023. It's best to think of Henry as a high-end RB2 for now, but if the Titans offense has another strong showing on Thursday we might have to adjust his fantasy standing rest of season.

Week 6 vs. Baltimore Ravens (London)
Derrick Henry continues to get the majority of the backfield opportunities in Tennessee, but it's time to be concerned about the increasing involvement of Tyjae Spears. Spears played 49% of the Titans' offensive snaps in Week 5, but has out-snapped Henry twice this year already and saw 12 of the 28 backfield opportunities (carries plus targets) in last week's game. Henry will not have nearly the floor he usually does if he is effectively splitting touches with Spears, and he really only projects for a ceiling outcome in games with a clear positive game script. That will not be the case this week with the Titans traveling to London to take on a formidable Ravens defense. Henry is still a surefire fantasy starter, but he is more of a RB2 in his current environment for Week 6.

Week 4 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Derrick Henry's Week 3 performance was an abject disaster as the Titans got obliterated by the Browns' elite defense and failed to clear 100 total yards of offense. The Browns look like they might have the best defense in football this year, so Henry's matchups can only improve from here. That being said, Henry gets the Bengals in Week 4 who also have a solid run defense and will put Henry at risk for a negative game script given their talent on offense. Henry's lack of pass catching contributions (five receptions in three games) make him higher risk than other backs that are typically ranked near him for fantasy. Henry is still a large part of the Titans' weekly game plans for as long as the game remains competitive, but he is looking more like a low-end RB1 or RB2 given how inconsistent the Titans have been offensively this year.