The Derrick Henry injury sent major shockwaves throughout the NFL and fantasy community. While we wish him the best in his recovery, there are a lot of first-place fantasy managers who need an immediate fill-in replacement for who would have been the 2021 Fantasy MVP. There are a handful of options off the Week 9 Waiver Wire, but the best might be his immediate replacement, the 36-year old and future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson.
No one, not even Peterson, could realistically expect to replicate Henry’s workload or fantasy output. However, the carries should be there for the elder statesman to make a legitimate fantasy impact moving forward.
Following Week 8, Henry leads the league in rushing attempts (219), rushing yards (937), rushing yards per game (117.1), and rushing touchdowns (10).
Jeremy McNichols has seen 5+ carries only 3 times. He averages 3.1 YPC. His career-high is 9 att, which he turned into 11 yards.
He'll see some receiving work, but I don't see his role changing much. As long as he allows it, Adrian Peterson will be DHenry-lite (v.lite)
— Wolf of Roto Street (@RotoStreetWolf) November 2, 2021
Although Peterson should be dust by now, he’s actually performed well over the last three seasons. Between 2018 and 2020, he racked up 2,544 yards at 4.1 yards a clip for Washington and the Lions. He also found pay dirt 19 times over that span. If he gets the volume that we expect him to get, he should be fantasy relevant in the Titans’ offense.
With the Titans passing on Marlon Mack during the trade deadline, it appears Mike Vrabel and co. have faith in Peterson and Jeremy McNichols to ‘replace’ Henry to form a one-two punch.
Expect Peterson to be the Titans’ clear early-down and goal-line back, while McNichols will take care of the passing duties. McNichols trails only AJ Brown for the team lead in targets (27) and his 21 receptions are also the second-best on the team. But, he only has seven carries on the season for 38 yards.
While the opportunity is there for Peterson to turn back the clock in the Titans run-heavy offense, The Wolf has the old man ranked RB35 (+17 vs ECR) on our Rest of Season Fantasy Rankings. Peterson sits in Tier 5, alongside Chris Carson, Khalil Herbert, Miles Sanders, Myles Gaskin, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
