What are the Titans planning at the RB position?

What are the Tennessee Titans planning on doing with both DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry at the RB position?

Derrick Henry should be no stranger to crowded running back situations. Coming to the Tennessee Titans and likely coming off the sideline behind starter DeMarco Murray, Henry’s rookie season with this Titans team might remind him a bit of his freshman year at Alabama.

There will certainly not be any shortage of opportunities for the former Heisman Trophy winner, as DeMarco Murray is coming off of a horrid season with the Philadelphia Eagles where he looked like a shell of his former self, the one that led the NFL in rushing two years ago.

Henry was one of the best finishers in college football last season, wearing defenses down and proving his worth as both a power back and someone who could provide a home run at any point in a game.

The Titans and offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie have an incredibly exciting year ahead, experimenting with their new weapons that go along with Marcus Mariota.

As a side note, how cool would it have been two years ago to see Mariota and Derrick Henry on the same team? The Titans now get to live the die-hard college football fan’s dream…

So what are the Titans’ plans at running back this year? It’s certainly not going to make fantasy football fans happy, as we’re likely to see big games one week from Murray, another week from Henry, but what could set these two apart at least in 2016 is Murray’s ability to produce in the passing game.

Despite having a poor season as a runner last year, Murray was again excellent in the passing game, catching 44 passes after having two 50-plus catch seasons with the Cowboys.

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Henry, though a dominant running back with rare size and speed, didn’t prove himself to be the best receiver at Alabama. That facet of his game should come with time, but for the time being, the veteran running back in Murray should be the lead back on this Titans team, and unless he puts himself in the doghouse, I think he’ll be taking the lion’s share of touches while Henry adapts to the NFL game.

That’s certainly not going out on much of a limb, but the Titans will have the luxury of letting Henry’s touches come naturally rather than forcing him into the lineup. Marcus Mariota’s development is going to hinge on how well the Titans execute in the running game, and they’ve set themselves up for a ton of success in that regard.

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