Getty Eric Dickerson takes in a Los Angeles Rams football game in October of 2017.
Numerous records could fall in this brand new 17-game season that officially starts on Thursday, September 9, including one record that still belongs to Los Angeles Rams legend Eric Dickerson.
Since December 9, 1984, the legendary Ram running back has held the NFL’s all-time best rushing season at 2,105 yards. But with the extra game comes the possibility of witnessing records fall – including Dickerson’s.
And that’s where the longtime Ram and one veteran NFL Network personality and radio show host who mentioned his name on Wednesday, September 8, come in.
Eisen Calls for Record to Fall
Rich Eisen of the NFL Network is one believer that Dickerson’s mark could be threatened. And the biggest threat to surpass 2,105 yards according to Eisen? Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans, who already posted his first 2,000-yard season last year.
Eisen predicted on his radio show on Wednesday that Henry is the one who will get the 37-year-old record to fall, even asking “Why wouldn’t he? Why not?”
Fresh off his 2,000-yard 2020 campaign, is @Titans RB @KingHenry_2 going to track down and pass @EricDickerson all-time mark this season?
Eisen added “the last word I’ve ever heard associated with Derrick Henry is the word ‘diminish.’ He is the diminisher. He’s the one who does the diminishing. I look at him and say ‘That is somebody I don’t normally see running the ball.’ I look at him and say that’s a business decision of every square inch of the man who diminishes everyone who tries to take him down.”
Eisen then blurted out the Ram legend’s name, saying “Eric Dickerson, wherever he is right now, is like preparing the asterisk talk. I’m serious, he’s preparing whatever speech he’s going to say on January 2, the ‘Yeah, but,’ speech.”
Well, Eisen certainly caught Dickerson’s attention. The 13-year NFL veteran and Pro Football Hall of Famer sent this response through his personal Twitter account:
Either this could mean Dickerson is responding to the rumored “Yeah, but,” speech Eisen is thinking Dickerson is prepping, or this could be Dickerson reacting to Eisen’s projection that his near 40-year record is finally getting shattered. Regardless, Dickerson was listening and watching…responding to the chance Henry will get 2,106 yards or beyond.
What Would Henry Need to do to Break the Mark?
Even with Henry’s career trajectory, plus the extra regular season game, Henry will still need a high number of 100-yard outings to snatch the record.
He’ll need at least 13 games of crossing the century mark, to be exact.
In looking back at the 1984 season, Dickerson accomplished the following accolades according to Pro Football Reference:
- Dickerson posted 12 games of surpassing the century mark.
- The former Southern Methodist star had two 200-yard days (208 and 215 yards).
- Dickerson accomplished two separate running streaks that year: A four-game streak from September 9 to October 22 of crossing 100 yards and then produced six straight games of rushing between 132 to 215 yards from November 11 to December 9.
And reminder, Dickerson put himself in the record books during a 16-game season.
For Henry, he’ll be entering the season with three straight 1,000-yard seasons including the 2,027 he posted last year. For Henry to surpass the 2K yardage mark, he needed 10 games of going past the 100-yard mark.
This time around, Henry will be in for a tougher task. Of the Titans’ 17 games, he’ll be going against six teams that produced top 10 rushing defenses a year ago including division rivals the Indianapolis Colts (the run defense that gave up the fewest yards per carry in the AFC) and the New Orleans Saints (surrendered below four yards a carry last year).
By the way, one of the defenses Henry will face is on November 7: Dickerson’s Rams and the league’s top defensive unit from 2020.