Ravens RB Derrick Henry carried five times for 17 yards and the season's first TD in Thursday night's loss to the Chiefs. But Kansas City's defense -- and game script -- limited him to just 29 scoreless yards on eight carries the rest of the way. Baltimore trailed for close to three-quarters of this game, and Henry was regularly pulled in passing situations for RB Justice Hill. Henry failed to catch either of his two targets.
Fantasy managers shouldn't be surprised by anything we saw in this one. Henry has rarely played in obvious passing situations at any point of his career. In this one, he ran a route on just 29% of dropbacks -- right in line with his 30% route rate from last season. It's worth noting that Baltimore tried to get him the ball on a screen on the first drive of the game. Henry won't be a total zero in the passing game going forward, but expect him to continue ceding reps to Hill.
The good news is that the Ravens won't face negative game script like this most games. Henry handled 13 of 14 RB carries in Kansas City and will rack up some big rushing numbers when the Ravens play with the lead.
That should start in Week 2 in a home game against the Raiders. That's followed by a likely shootout in Dallas.
RB Justice Hill was busy in this one, catching six of eight targets for 52 yards. He ran a route on 55% of pass plays.
The same game script that hurt Henry's production boosted Hill's. He's clearly set to handle the majority of passing downs for the Ravens, but don't expect this many routes or targets going forward.
Hill is worth an add in deeper PPR leagues, but we're not expecting him to be a reliable weekly starter.
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