But with Alabama’s running back Derrick Henry, who is ranked No. 2 in the SEC in rushing?
He falls in right behind Fournette with 218 carries for 1,254 yards and 17 touchdowns. Up until his performance against LSU, Henry hadn’t gotten as much attention as the other running backs. Now, there’s talk about him stealing the Heisman Trophy spotlight.
His teammates have thought highly of Henry all season, though, regardless of the lack of attention.
“He’s having a fantastic year, if you ask me,” tight end O.J. Howard said. “I knew Derrick was going to have a great year in the offseason because of the way he prepares.”
Henry has always worked as hard in order to be the best that he can be. Howard said Henry is one to always try and finish first in sprints and work extra hard in the weight room.
“That’s what happens when you put in the work off the field,” Howard said. “It’s going to show up during game time.”
Before Alabama’s game against Tennessee on Oct. 24, SEC Nation’s Tim Tebow chose Henry as his Freak of the Week.
In Tebow’s video, he said Henry power cleans 350 pounds, benches 450 pounds and squats 550 pounds, while also running a 40 in 4.45.
Linebacker Ryan Anderson also notices Henry’s dedication and motivation towards improvement. He sees Henry lifting even after practice in his free time. During practice, he doesn’t take any plays off either.
The extra work he puts in pays off.
“For him to get up after as hard as he practices, as hard as he sprints at practice and go in there and do a full workout, I think that’s what separates him,” Anderson said.
Henry is a big guy and knows how to break tackles. If he had to tackle Henry, Howard said he’d go for the legs – it’s the only way to stop anybody. At the same time, he said Henry does a great job of moving sideline-to-sideline. Add that onto his athleticism, there a lot of missed tackles by defenders going for Henry.
He doesn’t run around defenders. He runs through them.
“It’s been a pretty tough task to bring him down,” Howard said.
Henry has stayed modest and humble through it all.
He fumbled and lost the ball during the fourth quarter to LSU and the Monday after, Henry said that’s been messing with him since, but besides that, he felt good during that game and about his performance otherwise.
Except, he doesn’t take full credit.
“I feel like the offensive line did a great job for me and had success and everybody blocking – tight ends, receivers – just took pride in controlling the line of scrimmage and just being physical,” he said.
Henry finished that game with 38 carries for 210 yards and three touchdowns, but it wouldn’t have happened without his teammates’ help.
“So my success, I credit to all of them for the success I had in the game,” he said.
