Derrick Henry is still the king, but the Titans might have erred in relying on him in his return Saturday.
Henry, who had been out for nine weeks is, of course, the franchise running back, and everything the Titans do begins with him.
But in the 19-16 loss to the Bengals, the Titans might have been better off had they not relied so much on Henry. Even though he was healthy, he certainly looked a bit rusty at times. Henry ran the ball 20 times for 62 yards and one touchdown out of the wildcat formation.
But that did not lead the Titans in rushing. D’Onta Foreman rolled up 66 yards on just four carries, including a monster 45-yard run in the third quarter that the Titans squandered when Tannehill’s pass on the next play was picked off.
Take away the big run, and Foreman still averaged better than 6 yards a carry on his other three attempts. But he didn’t get a single carry in the fourth quarter.
With Henry not quite himself, perhaps Foreman’s role should have been a little bigger, especially down the stretch. We will never know what might have happened if they had gone that route.
The presumption is that Henry will be back and be himself again next year and anchor the Titans’ offense.
As for Foreman, he is a free agent who made the best of a half season of work. If the Titans can’t re-sign him, he certainly showed enough that he should be on somebody’s roster in 2022.
“I don’t really want to say I proved it to myself, I always felt like that was in me already, I just had to prove it to everybody else,” Foreman says. “And I think I got the opportunity to do that thanks to the Titans, thanks to Coach (Mike) Vrabel and Jon (Robinson) and everybody for believing in me and trusting in me and giving me this opportunity and this platform to show what I’m able to do.
“I’m just so thankful and so grateful. Like I said before, God is good, and I want to continue to show people that I can play in this league. I can be a good running back, and I can go out there and ball.”