Derrick Henry’s 300-carry season is rare, but history shows few side effects

Derrick Henry has carried the ball 339 times already this season for Alabama, so calling him a workhorse is an understatement. Only one person – the great Herschel Walker in 1981 – has ever carried it more, toting it 385 times that year.

There have been only 10 SEC seasons where a back has run the ball more than 300 times and Walker has done it twice.

Henry is having the best season of any Bama back in multiple ways. He already broke the Tide’s single-season rushing record previously held by Trent Richardson with 1,679 yards in 2011.

Here’s the complete list of 300-carry SEC running backs:

That’s a whole lot of work, but does it have any effect on the future of a back that carries it so much? The answer appears to be no, but that’s only because Herschel Walker, as he often does, ruins the curve.

Here’s what happened to the top-5 backs after they carried it so much:

Herschel Walker, Georgia (1980-82): Walker is the only person to ever carry the ball 300 times or more in multiple SEC seasons. He did it his sophomore year (385) and junior year (335) in 1981 and ’82.  In fact, his 994 total carries during his three years in Athens is still the biggest three-year total in NCAA history and as much as the passing game has taken over, that’s a record that may never  get broken. All that work didn’t hamper his pro career either. He rushed for 5,562 yards on 1,143 carries during his three-year USFL career and rushed for 8,225 yards on 1,954 carries during his NFL career from 1986 to 1997.

Workload impact: Zero

Derrick Henry, Alabama (2013-present): Henry’s 339 carries had a lot to do with what was going on around him. There were three things that came into play this season. One was a feeling of insecurity in trusting QB Jake Coker to throw it all over the place. A second factor with all those carries was a late-year injury to backup Kenyon Drake, which put more on Henry’s plate. And lastly, Henry simply got better as a game – and the season – wore on. He carried the ball 90 times in their last two games, wins over Auburn and Florida, and Henry didn’t mind one bit. He’s only 46 carries behind Walker’s all-time mark, and if the Crimson Tide play two playoff games, he may surpass it. Or, he might do it in one.

Workload impact: Still to be determined

Darren McFadden, Arkansas (2005-07): McFadden stayed busy carrying the rock in Fayetteville. His 325 carries his junior year is now fourth all-time and he rushed 284 times the year prior. All that work may have come back to haunt him in the NFL, though, because he’s been unable to stay healthy. He spent seven years with the Oakland Raiders but only had one 1,000-yard season (2010). It wasn’t until last year, his eighth in the league, that he played all 16 games. (He’s on pace to do it again this year with the Dallas Cowboys.

Workload impact: Certainly a factor in not staying healthy.

Rudi Johnson, Auburn (2000): Johnson played just one season at Auburn, so there’s no way to gauge how those carries affected in college career. He played eight years in the NFL and stayed healthy most of the time. He didn’t play much earlier behind all-Pro back Corey Dillon in Cincinnati, but had a huge year after Dillon was traded to New England, rushing for a then-team record 1,454 yards in 2004 once he finally became the featured back. He topped that a year later, and finished his career in 2008.

Workload impact: None, especially not playing much his first two NFL seasons.

Tre Mason, Auburn (2011-13): Mason played three years at Auburn, but wasn’t the featured back until his junior year in 2013, the year Auburn won the SEC and played in the national championship game against Florida State. First-year coach Gus Malzahn had no problems handing the ball off to Mason as often as he could and he carried it 317 times. He carried it 192 times on their last six games, including 46 times in the SEC Championship Game win over Missouri.  Mason is in his second season with St. Louis Rams and splits duties with former Georgia star Todd Gurley now. He’s had two career 100-yard games:

Workload impact: None. Scouts loved his durability coming out of college

Tom Brew

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.