There’s no way Derrick Henry could break Emmitt Smith’s rushing record, right?

The Baltimore Ravens look ready for the 2026 season. Baltimore’s final 53-man roster looks talented on both sides of the ball ahead of Jesse Minter’s first season as head coach. One legendary Ravens player may have his sights set on making NFL history as his incredible career rages on.

Ravens running back Derrick Henry does not seem to be slowing down with age ahead of his 11th season in the NFL. In fact, Henry recently joked that he’s ready to play 11 more seasons, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.

If Henry’s body still has several years of football left in it, the legendary running back could make NFL history. Henry can leap past several of the NFL’s career rushing yard leaders by simply putting up 1,000 yards in 2026. He would pass Eric Dickerson, Jerome Bettis, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Curtis Martin. He already surpassed Tony Dorsett late in the 2025 season.

That begs the question: could Henry break the NFL’s all-time career rushing yards record set by Emmitt Smith?

“So could Henry eventually become the NFL’s all-time rushing champion? He’s 5,337 yards behind Emmitt Smith, who ran for a league-best 18,355 in his 15-year career,” Hensley wrote. “If Henry plays five more seasons (including this one) to equal Smith, he would need to average 1,068 yards each year to capture the No. 1 spot.”

Henry is 32 years old, which is quite old for a normal running back. But King Henry is simply built different, allowing him to continue punishing defenders even after 2,662 career rushing attempts. His biggest hurdle will simply be staying healthy long enough to pass Smith’s record.

“There’s no end in sight for him,” teammate Justice Hill said. “You talk to some guys, and they’re like, ‘I get one more good season, maybe two more.’ You couldn’t tell that with Derrick. He might play another five years.”

It will be exciting to see if Henry is still the same dominant player this fall.

The Ravens begin the regular season with a road game against the Colts. That AFC matchup kicks off at 1PM ET on September 13th from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

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