Time to step up, Chris Henry
It’s often been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I wouldn’t be shocked if it took far less than a thousand words for Jeff Fisher to express his frustration with this snapshot.
In the photograph, taken during the midst of the Titans’ organized team activities, Henry’s grasp on the pigskin is interrupted by “The Freak”, who eventually scoops up the fumble and races towards the end zone for an imaginary touchdown.
The Titans’ decision to draft a fellow Chris (Chris Johnson) in the first round a few weeks ago should have been a message heard loud and clear by Chris Henry.
Despite being a second round draft selection in 2007, Henry is going to have his work cut out for him as he attempts to become a part of the Titans’ running game next season and beyond.
Henry had a few moments of splendor during his rookie campaign. In his first action as a Titan, Henry rambled for fifty-seven yards and a touchdown on eleven carries in a thrilling victory over the Texans.
His entertaining twenty-four yard touchdown against the Raiders also provided Titans’ fans with a glimpse of his potential. Unfortunately, a four-game suspension essentially ended Henry’s rookie season, as he only rushed for fifteen yards once he returned to the team.
Despite the presence of the speedy and powerful Henry on the roster, attaining the services of a change of pace running back was high on Mike Reinfeldt’s priority list during the offseason. The desire to add a playmaker to the Titans’ stable of backs was fulfilled with the drafting of Chris Johnson in the first round.
With Lendale White serving as the battering ram and Johnson as the home run threat, Chris Henry’s role in the Titans’ running game next season is undetermined. In order for Henry to emerge as a factor in 2008, he is going to have to step his game up and prove to Earnest Byner and Jeff Fisher that he is worthy of significant playing time next season.
Of course, fumbling during a non-tackling drill isn’t going to assist Henry’s goal of proving his mettle to the coaching staff. Holding onto the football will go a long way towards Henry’s ability to hold onto a role in the Titans’ running game next year.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 10:57 am and is filed under 2008 Offseason, Offseason, Players, Commentary.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
THE AUTHOR
RECENT ARTICLES BY DIVISION RIVALS
ARCHIVE
TOTAL TITANS CATEGORIES
- 2008 Offseason (95)
- Commentary (180)
- Games (30)
- General (61)
- Injuries (7)
- News (90)
- Offseason (81)
- Players (74)
- Preseason (27)
- Previews (44)
- Results (21)
- The Draft (64)
- 2008 Draft (35)
- Uncategorized (4)
SPONSORS
Titans PSL
Buy, Sell & Trade Titans PSL and Titans Season Tickets as well as single game Tennessee Titans Tickets.
Online Seats
Titans Tickets nashville predators Tickets
Ticket Specialists
Tennessee Titans Tickets Tennessee volunteers Tickets
Coast to Coast Tickets
Nashville Event Tickets NFL Football Sports Tickets Tennessee Titans NFL Tickets Sports Tickets NFL Super Bowl Buy College Football Tickets
Great Seats
Tennessee Titans Tickets Nashville Predators Tickets NFL Tickets Country Music Tickets NASCAR Tickets
10 Responses to “Time to step up, Chris Henry”
May 11th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Excellent points, Drexel.
Because of his status as a second round pick only a year ago, Henry will be back on the roster for another year — but he’d better take advantage of his opportunities. 2008 may be his last year if both White and Johnson produce and he doesn’t.
There is an upside to this if Henry doesn’t produce — the Titans can afford to let him go next year if he doesn’t step up this year.
In the last six or so years, young players who were cap-friendly were kept on board while proven, but more expensive, players were released.
The Titans are no longer giving jobs away based on cap implications so Henry will need to step up and contribute. If he doesn’t, you’ll frequently see his name listed as a gameday inactive unless he’s needed as a replacement due to injury.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:46 am
henry already have one strike aginst him drex,the next drug suspension will hurt the team worse than last years …… he needs to know it not a option to fail NFL guidlines any moore.The new chris has a golden opprotunity presented to him by being drafted by the titians, lets hope he will be our “lightning in a bottle”.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I guess the Titans decided to go with their own version of Barber and Dayne…. The Titans just have the more modern version of Lightning and Thunder!
May 11th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Hopefully, the old Chris will utilize all of the attention bestowed upon the new Chris as a source of motivation.
As always, thanks for the comments guys.
May 11th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I would love to know exactly what type of workout Sherman Smith put him through last year to be so high on Henry.
We’ve all heard his lack of production explained away as being attributable to poor blocking schemes and not fitting the style of Arizona’s offense, so what drills did Sherm run him through to become so confident in his ability?
He has good burst and seems to be a decent receiver, but appears to have sub-par lateral agility and outright poor vision. It will be interesting to see what if anything Byner is able to get out of him
May 12th, 2008 at 12:16 am
I saw a reply of the Vikings-Chargers game today, and I got pretty excited watching AP tear those guys up. Once he made the first linebacker miss and bounced it outside, dude was flat out gone, running away from DBs. If Chris Johnson is anywhere near that, it will be a good year in TN.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:43 am
As a long time Titans fan I was disappointed when the Titans drafted a RB-instead of a WR, but I’m hearing about all the positions we could place Johnson. Hes kind of like Reggie Bush, very versital quick and fast as hell, Chris Henry is easily going to be the 3rd stringer I mean fumbling in a non-tackling drill come on
May 12th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Following the Titans, we’ve become accustomed to the plodding running styles of the likes of Eddie George, and now LenDale White. Chris Brown showed glimpses of being a guy who could take it the distance, but injuries derailed his career here. Travis Henry was solid, but was more of a grind-it-out type runner.
Johnson has the chance to be the first legit homerun threat this team has had at the RB position since they’ve moved to Nashville.
Henry’s got a big challenge ahead of him if he wants to earn some carries in this offense.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Titans will have the best running game this year,better
than last year.Chris will wake up,cause the other chris
j. will push him to the limit,now all three backsare per-
forming ,that will be awesome that way all threecanbe in the game.that’s scary and confussing,plenty of targets for vince.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:53 am
This is part of the reason I’ve convinced myself our first pick wasn’t bad. Henry and White seem little more than average and while using 3 straights high picks on RBs is unusual it’s not as if we have a stud back already. If Johnson has the potential to be like Westbrook (much prefer the comparison than to Bush) it can only make our offense more versatile.
Leave a comment