For the past two seasons, running back Derrick Henry has been the heavy hitter in the Tennessee Titans’ offense. The former Alabama All-American ran for 1,540 yards in 2019, then became the eighth player in league history with 2,000 rushing yards in a season when he picked up 2,027 in 2020.
Henry has led the NFL in rushing attempts, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in each of the past two seasons. But the last time that the Titans were on the field, Henry had 40 rushing yards, his fewest in a game since Dec. 2, 2018, and the Baltimore Ravens beat Tennessee 20-13 in the first round of the AFC playoffs on Jan. 10.
On Sunday, the Titans agreed to a trade with the Atlanta Falcons for wide receiver Julio Jones.
Are the loss to the Ravens and the acquisition of the seven-time Pro Bowler related?
“We try to do our best to put all our playmakers in position to make plays,” Titans general manager Jon Robinson said on Sunday. “Derrick’s been a big part of our offense. That’s not going to change, and the more pieces that we can add around him to try to make defensive coordinators’ jobs harder, I think that’s part of our charge as a personnel staff is to try to have players that put stress on defense, and the same thing on the other side of the ball.”
Baltimore put its defensive emphasis on stopping Henry, and the Titans’ passing game didn’t pick up the slack. While Pro Bowler A.J. Brown caught six passes for 83 yards and one touchdown, Tennessee’s other wide receivers had three receptions for 23 yards against the Ravens.
During his 10 NFL seasons, Jones has averaged 95.5 receiving yards per game, the best in league history by 9.4 yards per game.
Henry and the Titans lined up against defenses with eight players in the box on 23.1 percent of their snaps in 2020, the highest rate in the NFL. The Falcons did so on 12.5 percent of their snaps last season, and that was with Jones missing seven games because of a hamstring injury.
“He can run the full route tree,” Robinson said of Jones. “He’s got really good size. He’s got a large catch radius, good catching skills. He’s strong with the ball in his hands. Still think he can push the field down vertically. He’s willing to go in there and dig out a linebacker or a safety. …
“We’ll see kind of where he fits in with what exact position. I think that’s to be determined. We got to get him here and get to know him. He’s an extremely smart player. (Alabama) coach (Nick) Saban spoke really highly of him. Excited to see how he factors in for the offense.”
Henry has a roster size of 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds, Brown is listed at 6-1 and 226 and Jones goes 6-3 and 220.
“I think the bigger and the faster and the stronger that any player can be at their respective positions, the advantage usually goes to the bigger, faster and skilled players,” Robinson said. “Certainly all three of those guys have proven that they can be successful at their respective positions with their height and their weight and their speed.”
To obtain the former Foley High School and Alabama star and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Tennessee is sending a second-round choice in the 2022 NFL Draft and a fourth-round choice in the 2023 NFL Draft to Atlanta.
The deal is not quite done. Jones still needs to pass a physical exam, and the Titans need to square away their salary-cap situation to take on the wide receiver’s contract. Jones has a $15.3 million salary for the 2021 season, followed by $11.513 million in 2022 and 2023.
“Excited to add Julio to the football team,” Robinson said. “He’s excited to be a part of what we got going on here in Nashville. It’s a big day for our team.
“There’s still some things that we’ve got to work through. We’ve agreed to the terms on the trade. There’s obviously the physical component that has to be passed as it is with every trade. And then there’re some things we still have to work through as an organization with the salary cap in working things to fit into the parameters that the league has set forth with all 32 teams, so still working through that, having internal discussions about that. But excited to add Julio and see what he can do for our team.”
Robinson said adding Jones’ salary probably would involve “restructuring and moving pieces around” rather than releasing a player or players.
The Titans are scheduled to complete their Phase III practices this week with workouts on Monday through Thursday. Those practices are voluntary. Tennessee will complete its offseason program with mandatory minicamp on June 15-17 before breaking until reporting for training camp on July 27.
“Right now, he’s excited to get in here and meet his new teammates, to get cranking with (quarterback) Ryan (Tannehill) and the rest of the receivers,” Robinson said. “He’s a pro, and our job is to try to get him in here and make sure the physical checks out and get him acclimated to how we do things here and learn the offense. That’s what we’re working on now.”
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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Tennessee Titans pair Julio Jones, Derrick Henry - AL.com
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