Darrell Henderson Jr. is getting the full-blown RB1 treatment from Sean McVay in the lead up to Week 1. With Cam Akers sidelined by a torn Achilles, Henderson is set to be the Rams’ starting running back.
And as a projected starter, he won’t step foot on the field during the preseason.
“No, Darrell will not play in a preseason game. I can promise you, you’re not seeing Darrell Henderson in the preseason,” McVay said Monday to open camp.
The coach made it clear that he’s taking no chances with Henderson this offseason as the Rams prepare for the regular season, attempting to keep him healthy after already losing one starting running back.
Injuries have limited Henderson in the past, too, as he’s missed six of a possible 34 games in two years (including the postseason). He has now finished the last two seasons on injured reserve, something no player ever wants to do.
When healthy, Henderson has shown an abundance of potential. And in McVay’s mind, it’s never been a question of his talent. It’s about his availability.
“If you look through the first half of the year last year, this has never been an ability question for Darrell Henderson,” McVay said. “This is, all right, how do we find a strategic and structured way to keep him available for all these games and what does that workload look like? Because he is the established guy in that room. You can see, when he gets the ball in his hand and he puts that foot in the ground, there’s a burst and he’s sturdy, too. … I think he is a complete back, very similar to how you’ve heard me talk about Cam. What our biggest challenge is, is not figuring out if he’s capable of doing it, it’s finding that sweet spot of how do we maximize Darrell Henderson? While also getting some of these other guys involved and figuring out, what is that touch point to keep him healthy throughout the season and a big part of our offense? Which he’s gonna be. It’s never been an ability. It’s just, all right, is he available? Because the guy’s a baller and I’m excited to see what he’ll do with this.”
McVay mentioned getting Raymond Calais, Xavier Jones and Jake Funk work behind Henderson at running back, with this being a great opportunity for those three young backs to emerge and establish themselves as role players.
Jones should get a ton of work in the preseason and is the favorite to be the RB2, but Funk is explosive and Calais is a guy McVay likes, too.
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