Will Derrick Henry make history like Adrian Peterson this season?

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry is having another great season that could result in him doing something Adrian Peterson did with the Minnesota Vikings in 2012.

Last season, Tennesee Titans running back Derrick Henry finished with an impressive 2,027 yards on the ground. Henry became the eighth running back in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a single season and he was the first to do it since Adrian Peterson in 2012 when he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

After that 2012 campaign, Peterson went on to be named the league’s MVP, which is something that didn’t happen for Henry last season.

With a 17th game now on the schedule, the Titans running back is currently on pace to break the NFL’s all-time single-season record for rushing yards. If this happens, would it result in Henry ending the year as the league’s MVP?

Can Derrick Henry become the first RB to win MVP since Minnesota Vikings legend Adrian Peterson?

There are still 11 weeks left in the current season, but it’s hard to believe that Henry’s production is going to slow down anytime soon.

Plus, at 5-2 right now, Tennessee will likely be in the hunt for a playoff spot in the AFC this season, so they’re going to need their top running back to continue performing at a high level.

To win the MVP award in 2012, it required Peterson to basically put the entire Vikings offense on his back. Has Henry done that this year with the Titans? An argument can probably be made, but it’s not to the extent of what the former Minnesota running back did in 2012.

With guys like Ryan Tannehill, A.J. Brown, and Julio Jones, Tennessee still has enough talent on offense to remain competitive in a matchup if Henry has to miss time. The same could definitely not be said of the Vikings’ 2012 offense that featured guys like Christian Ponder, Toby Gerhart, Jerome Simpson, and Michael Jenkins.

So the talent surrounding Henry in the Titans’ offense might actually hurt his MVP chances this season. But if he ends up breaking the single-season rushing record this year, he will definitely be in the running to end the 2021 campaign as the NFL’s most valuable player.