The Giants (and other teams) hope to land Colts running back Jonathan Taylor via trade. With Baltimore’s season potentially falling apart following Sunday injuries to starting quarterback Lamar Jackson (thumb) and his backup Tyler Huntley (toe), there could be another running back to potentially be pursued at or before the November 10 deadline, by the Giants or other teams. Derrick Henry, now 32, is far closer to the end of his career than the beginning. His contract pays out $12 million in 2027, with none of it guaranteed. Now could be the time for the Ravens to turn the remainder of his contract into a draft pick or two. And the Giants would make plenty of sense. Beyond the fact that the Giants view Taylor as on the second tier of current NFL tailbacks with Henry, Giants coach John Harbaugh has experience with Henry. After a Week 5 loss to the Saints, Harbaugh explained the distribution of carries to a wide swath of tailbacks by pointing out that they don’t have a clear-cut workhorse. “I would love for us to be in that kind of a circumstance,” Harbaugh said at the time. “A Derrick Henry circumstance or a Saquon Barkley circumstance or whatever it might be.” The best way to be in a “Derrick Henry circumstance” would be to, you know, get Derrick Henry. Whether the Ravens would trade Henry depends on whether they plan to keep him beyond this season. If they’d cut him before a $1 million roster bonus comes due in March, they wouldn’t get a compensatory draft pick. The only way to get value for his contract would be to trade it. Through eight games, Henry leads the league with 158 carries. He has 632 yards (4.0 per carry) and eight touchdowns. Given the quarterback injuries in Baltimore, the Ravens surely will get a call or two about Henry. The Giants, given their interest in Taylor, could be one of them
The Ravens ' quarterback situation went from disappointing to dire to destitute in a hurry Sunday. In his return from an ankle injury that cost him three games, Lamar Jackson suffered a thumb injury that will require potentially season-ending surgery on Baltimore's first offensive play, and backup Tyler Huntley left shortly thereafter with a toe injury. That left the Ravens with emergency third quarterback Joe Fagnano , an undrafted rookie . He went 10-for-21 for 91 yards and an interception, looking very much like an undrafted rookie, as the Ravens went down quietly, 36-10, against the Bills . What looked like a chance to turn the season around now looks like a game that could end Baltimore's season, for all intents and purposes. The Ravens are 4-4 and have lost three straight. Monday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Huntley will miss extended time with turf toe, a bothersome injury that can last for weeks. The Ravens have little time to wallow. They play the Jaguars on Thursday night. Currently, Baltimore has one available quarterback on its active roster (Fagnano), and even he was in discomfort late after taking several big hits. The Ravens don't have another quarterback on their active roster or practice squad; Skylar Thompson is on IR. So where does Baltimore go from here at the position? There are many factors to consider. Regardless of whether the Ravens can continue to contend or not — and it's very much looking like the latter — they owe it to all parties involved to get a quarterback. They owe it to the rest of the team, which is still fighting. Baltimore is 4-4, which isn't good, but isn't completely out of it. It's not as if the team is dead in the water, just trying to finish out a completely lost season. There's still Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers on offense and plenty of stars on defense. If there's any hope Jackson can return on the sooner end of the recovery spectrum, Baltimore's players deserve a chance to keep their season afloat. They owe it to coach Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, the latter of whom has been excellent this year. Forcing Minter, a first-year head coach, to resort to an undrafted rookie free agent would be extremely difficult. Since 2000, only one team with a rookie head coach has started an undrafted rookie quarterback in multiple games: the Jets with Brady Cook last year. The Ravens do not want to resemble the Jets whatsoever. They owe it to Fagnano, too. He is a really nice story, someone who started his college career as a walk-on at FCS program Maine and finished it with a superb seventh-year senior season at UConn. He earned a spot on the roster with a stellar showing at rookie tryouts, then throughout the early offseason, and then in training camp and the preseason. But to stick him with an extended starting role would be unfair to him, just as it would be for Minter and Doyle. And the bottom line is the Ravens have to add someone . They can't have one quarterback on the active roster. Austin Reed makes sense as a temporary solution to join Fagnano, as he was at least with the team this offseason, but he has never taken an NFL snap. Unfortunately, it's not like capable quarterbacks grow on trees. There's a shortage of passable starting quarterbacks, much less backups or backups to backups. But that doesn't mean it would be impossible to find one. Rapoport said he'd expect the Ravens to consider quarterback trades. Two names he floated were Bears backup Tyson Bagent and Cardinals recently benched starter Jacoby Brissett . Bagent, 26, makes sense for a few reasons. First and foremost, he was with Doyle in Chicago last year. Second, it's unclear whether he's even Caleb Williams ' primary backup right now. He performed decently in a win over the Jets earlier this year but struggled badly in a loss to the Packers the following week. Overall, he has zero passing touchdowns and three interceptions in three games (two starts) this year. Case Keenum , on th
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The New York Jets are considering trading running back Breece Hall before the November 10th deadline. Despite Hall's talent, the emergence of Braelon Allen, who has flourished in Hall's absence due to injury, makes Hall a valuable trade asset for a team looking to build for the future. Allen, on his rookie contract, has performed exceptionally well, showcasing elite yards-per-carry averages
The Ravens were in trouble on their first play from scrimmage. Lamar Jackson left after an incompletion, injuring his right thumb. The Ravens also lost backup Tyler Huntley to a toe injury in the first half, leaving undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano, the emergency third quarterback, to make his NFL debut. Baltimore had no chance, losing to Josh Allen and the Bills 36-10. Buffalo moves to 6-1, and the Ravens fall to 4-4. The Bills led start to finish, outgaining the Ravens 426 to 144. Josh Allen was 21-of-34 for 289 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran seven times for 30 yards and a touchdown. James Cook has 21 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown, and Dalton Kincaid caught four passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. DJ Moore caught four passes for 82 yards and a touchdown but also lost a fumble. Fagnano went 10-of-21 for 91 yards and an interception, and Derrick Henry had 11 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown
The Ravens have lost their top two quarterbacks and are playing their third, emergency quarterback, undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano. They haven’t yet lost the game. The Ravens are hanging in there, down only 16-7 at halftime. The Bills have outgained the Ravens 202 to 52, but have two turnovers and once turned it over on downs. Josh Allen is 8-of-19 for 112 yards and an interception and has run for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down. He has seven carries for 30 yards. DJ Moore lost a fumble on his only catch. James Cook has 14 carries for 54 yards. Tyler Bass has field goals of 56, 22 and 51 yards. Lamar Jackson threw an incompletion on the team’s first play from scrimmage and is out with a right thumb injury. Backup Tyler Huntley left in the second quarter with a toe injury and is 2-of-4 for no yards. Fagnano is 5-of-8 for 50 yards and an interception. Derrick Henry has only 26 yards on six carries, but he does have his 40th touchdown as a Raven
Derrick Henry's poor efficiency and lack of scoring chances led to a disappointing performance, with just 45 rushing yards on 17 carries without a touchdown
Derrick Henry is projected for another dominant performance in Week 7 against the Bengals, building on his season averages of 21.7 rushing attempts per game and 4.1 yards per attempt, with eight total touchdowns. Despite a recent dip, his ceiling remains high, especially with Lamar Jackson potentially returning, which could funnel more carries to Henry
Giants running backs ran 14 times for 34 yards in last Sunday’s loss to the Saints and one of their backs said after the game that he thinks the rotation of backs is working against the team. Najee Harris and Devin Singletary had four carries in the game, Tyrone Tracy had six and Cam Skattebo didn’t touch the ball at all after leading the team in carries through the first five weeks of the season. Harris said, via Greg Johnson of the Trentonian , that it is “ hard to get into a rhythm ” while constantly going in and out of the game and those comments were brought up to head coach John Harbaugh during Monday’s press conference. Harbaugh said he understands that feeling, but said that the opportunity to develop that kind of rhythm is something that has to be earned and no one has done that to this point. “I would love for us to be in that kind of a circumstance ,” Harbaugh said, via a transcript from the team. “A Derrick Henry circumstance or a Saquon Barkley circumstance or whatever it might be. That would be great, and we haven’t. Our run game hasn’t earned that yet, and none of those guys have. My advice would be to any player, and it’s all the guys, we had the same conversation. I’ve had the same conversation with all the running backs, the receivers, it’s no different than any position, but do the most you can with the opportunities you get. Make the most of those opportunities and you’re sure to get more opportunities. Do something.” Harbaugh invoking Henry is interesting because he and the Ravens were criticized in Week 16 last season for pulling Henry in favor of Keaton Mitchell at key moments in the second half against the Patriots. New England came back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter for a 28-24 win that helped keep the Ravens out of the playoffs and contributed to Harbaugh being fired at the end of the season. No one would argue that any of the Giants backs are in Henry’s class, but history says that the division of labor might not be any more ideal if that was the case
