As the potentially unbreakable NFL records disappear, the precipitation mark of all time seems to be one of the most untouchable.
If a current player has a chance to get close enough to make things interesting, it is the Ravens that run Derrick Henry.
It is the first active rusher, with 11,423 yards. This placed him in 19th on the list, already in front of the renowned temple like John Riggins, OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Larry Csonka and Terrell Davis.
In the first weeks of the 2025 season, Henry goes Leaptrog Steven Jackson and Fred Taylor. Unless serious injuries, Henry will probably finish 2025 in the top 10.
This is the real question. To what height will he go? It is 2,628 yards of the top six and 3,495 of the top five.
And the Emmitt Smith record of 18,355 yards is only 6,932 yards.
Yes, Henry (now 31 years old) will need several years of high -end performance to get there. That said, he has not shown no signs of slowdown. Although the end can come quickly (and the father’s time remains undefeated), perhaps Henry is the aberrant value – as was Emmitt.
Smith played throughout the year he was 35 years old, generating 937 yards on the ground in his last season. Henry is 5.5 seasons to catch Smith, on the basis of the Henry average of 1,269 yards per season.
He had 1,921 yards last year, at 30 years old. He plays with a quarter generational, whose simple presence allows Henry to find more easily daylight.
It will not be easy. But here is the point. It was never really a serious consideration that Henry could catch Emmitt.
Maybe it should be. And Emmitt would be good with that; he told us several years ago At the Super Bowl, he hopes that Walter Payton would have been alive to congratulate Emmitt when he broke the Payton record. In simple terms, Emmitt wants to be able to shake the hand of the person who beats his file.
Although he is almost nothing close to a lock, there is a no zero chance that Emmitt ends up trembling the hand of Derrick Henry. A large part will depend on the rest of Henry’s body will challenge the hourglass long enough to continue to cross, above and around the defenders.
