Derrick Henry moved into seventh place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list on Thursday night, passing a running back he idolized growing up. The Baltimore Ravens star picked up the 13,685th yard of his career in the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars, moving past LaDainian Tomlinson, who finished with 13,684 career rushing yards. Henry also passed Jerome Bettis earlier in the game, climbing two spots on the list in a single night.
Derrick Henry entered Thursday night with 13,650 career rushing yards, needing 13 yards to move past Bettis for eighth place and 35 yards to pass Tomlinson. He cleared Bettis in the first quarter, then got past Tomlinson on a five-yard run in the second quarter. Derrick Henry finished with 57 yards on 17 carries, bringing his career total to 13,707 yards. The Ravens lost the game 33-10 at M&T Bank Stadium, their fourth straight defeat, but the milestone gave the home crowd something to cheer.
Derrick Henry passes two Hall of Famers in one night
Tomlinson was a childhood idol for Henry, and the 32-year-old has spoken about watching him play while growing up. Bettis and Tomlinson are both in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Henry now sits ahead of both men on the career rushing list. Next up is Curtis Martin, who is sixth on the list with 14,101 rushing yards. Henry is 394 yards behind Martin, a gap he could close before the end of the season if he stays healthy and keeps his current pace.
Derrick Henry had 632 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in eight games before Thursday night, and the 57 yards against Jacksonville took his season total to 689 yards. His average of 4.0 yards per carry this season is a career low, and the Ravens have struggled to run the ball the way they did last year. Henry led the league in rushing touchdowns with 16 in 2024, and he added 1,595 yards and 16 more scores last season. The numbers this year are lower, but the career totals keep growing.
Derrick Henry milestone comes in Ravens loss
The loss dropped Baltimore to 4-5, and the Ravens now face questions about the rest of their season. Henry has been linked to trade talk ahead of the deadline on Tuesday, 10 November, with the New England Patriots and New York Giants among the teams reported to have interest. Henry said he is not asking for a trade and wants to stay in Baltimore to turn the season around. His contract and his age, 32, make an in-season move possible for a buyer, but the Ravens have not said they plan to move him.
Derrick Henry is also closing in on another mark. He needs one touchdown to pass Marshall Faulk’s 136 for the fourth-most touchdowns by a running back in NFL history. Henry reached 136 career touchdowns last week, joining Faulk and Marcus Allen in a group of backs with that many scores. The next touchdown will put him alone in fourth place on that list, behind only Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson and Marcus Allen.
Henry spent eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans before joining Baltimore in 2024, and he was drafted by Tennessee in the second round in 2016. He led the league in rushing yards in 2019 and 2020, topping 2,000 yards in the second of those seasons. His best years came in Tennessee, but the move to Baltimore gave him a second act, and the milestones have kept coming.
Derrick Henry and the road to Curtis Martin
After Martin, the next name on the rushing list is Adrian Peterson, who is fifth with 14,918 career yards. Derrick Henry would need more than 1,200 yards to reach Peterson, a total that would take him into next season at his current pace. For now, the chase is Martin, and Henry has eight games left in the regular season to close a 394-yard gap. The Ravens play their next game on the road, and Henry will keep adding to a career total that already places him among the best running backs the league has seen.