Is Derrick Henry Still Better Than Ja'Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson And The New Generation Of Running Backs?
He is 32, playing under a first-year head coach, and has already surpassed Walter Payton's rushing record for a player at that age three times in four years. The question is no longer whether Henry is done but whether anyone has actually caught him.
The running back landscape heading into the 2026 NFL season is the most competitive it has been in years. Bijan Robinson is entering his prime in Atlanta. Jahmyr Gibbs has established himself as the most dynamic dual-threat back in the NFC North. Saquon Barkley came within touching distance of 2,000 yards last season. Jonathan Taylor is back healthy. And somewhere above all of it, Derrick Henry is still standing, 32 years old, 2,030-plus career carries deep, and heading into his second season in Baltimore under a first-time head coach.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler conducts an annual poll of more than 70 league executives, coaches and scouts to rank the top running backs in the game. The results from this offseason confirmed what the numbers already said: Henry is still in the conversation at the very top of the position.
Where Derrick Henry Stands Against the New Generation of Backs
The case for Robinson and Gibbs as the new RB1 pair in the NFL is legitimate. Robinson ran for 1,456 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2025, averaging 4.8 yards per carry while catching 61 passes for 431 yards. Gibbs has emerged as arguably the most complete back in the game, a mismatch anywhere on the field who Detroit cannot use enough. Both are in their mid-20s with their best football ahead of them.
Henry's counter-argument is production that nobody his age has managed. Over the past two seasons, he has led the NFL in combined rushing yards by over 300 yards ahead of Barkley and over 500 yards ahead of Taylor. He ranked first in defenders in the box in 2025 because defenses were genuinely scared of him, stacking eight men against a 32-year-old, and he still picked up first downs. He has crossed 1,000 yards in seven of his last eight seasons.
The 2026 Question: Can Age Finally Catch Him?
The concern this season is context rather than ability. Baltimore replaced longtime head coach John Harbaugh with defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Offensive line anchor Tyler Linderbaum was traded. Fullback Patrick Ricard left in free agency. Henry is now learning a new scheme under first-year coordinator Declan Doyle. None of that stopped him when similar disruption happened at Tennessee. But he is two years older than he was then, and the mileage is real.
Ja'Marr Chase is not a running back, but the reason his name appears in this conversation is what it says about how the league values skill positions now. Chase finished 2025 with 125 receptions, 1,412 yards and eight touchdowns on his way to being named the NFL's most valuable player. In a league where a receiver can win MVP, the argument for giving running backs expensive contracts and high draft capital looks different than it did even five years ago.