In 2020, Tennessee Titans star running back Derrick Henry became just the eighth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000-plus yards in a single season. Sheer dominance. An inexorable force.
But will Henry -- entering his fourth season as the Titans' bellcow -- be able to replicate last season's numbers in 2021, and produce a second consecutive 2,000-yard campaign? Consider this a tall order, according to the franchise's very first 2,000-yard rusher.
"Your body is definitely beat-up. Your body is beat-up because you played all 16 games," former Titans star Chris Johnson told the Tiki and Tierney show on Friday. "Everybody knows you're getting the ball, so everybody's trying to take your head off. But it's all about how you work out, how you eat, keep your body up in order to heal back up and get ready for the next season.
"But the next season -- a lot of people don't know -- it's even harder to get 1,500 yards. These coaches are smart these days. So guess what they're going to do? Every defensive coordinator that has you on their schedule, they're working all offseason to stop the 2,000-yard rusher... Even the players know who they've got to stop... If that's the mentality going in from the coaches and players, it's going to be hard to rush for 2,000 yards again."
Henry, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, rushed for a league-high 2,027 yards on 378 attempts with 17 touchdowns for Tennessee last season. The 6-foot-3, 237-pounder also holds the record for the most 200-yard, two-score performances in NFL history -- a mark he tied and then broke in 2020.
While the two-time Pro Bowler is now 27-years-old, he's shown no signs of slowing down, having finished no lower than ninth in yards after catch (YAC) in each of the past four seasons.
"I'm not worried about his health at all. I rushed for 2,000 yards, of course you're going to be beat-up," Johnson said. "As football players in this game, you're going to take a pounding, and as each year passes, it's going to wear on you. I had 2,000 yards my second year and then played eight years after that. So, he'll be alright."
The Titans will open the 2021 season at home against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 12. According to the William Hill Sportsbook, Tennessee currently has the best odds (-120) to win the AFC South, and the fifth-best odds (+1300) to win the conference.
The entire NFL conversation between Johnson and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.