Derrick Henry Explains the Best Finishing Move in Football | Check The Tape w/ Terez Paylor

Yahoo Sports Senior NFL writer Terez Paylor is joined by Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry to break down how his stiff arm has become the most devastating move in football, and how he goes about attacking defenders based on the way they approach him.

Video Transcript

TEREZ PAYLOR: Believe me when I tell you the single best finishing move in pro football is Derrick Henry’s stiff arm. And yeah, he’s big. And he’s strong. And he makes it look easy.

But it turns out there’s technique to it. So I recently caught up with King Henry to get the lowdown on how he utilizes his stiff arm. So let’s check the tape and break down why it’s so effective.

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TEREZ PAYLOR: Week after week, Derrick Henry plants somebody into the ground with a stiff arm. It’s that consistent. And, yeah, it helps he’s 6′ 3″, 240 with 33-inch arms. And that’s longer than some linemen, by the way. But it comes easy to him.

DERRICK HENRY: For me, I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. I have long arms.

TEREZ PAYLOR: Yeah.

DERRICK HENRY: And it just came natural to me. I’ve been using it since a kid. And that’s just something that– that’s– that’s– been my go to ever since I was a little boy– you know, started playing football on the Pop Warner– Pop Warner field.

TEREZ PAYLOR: Henry is 26 years old, which means by this point he’s super experienced at it. And whenever someone’s trying to tackle him, here’s what he’s looking for.

DERRICK HENRY: You look up the defender. And then you just find where you feel like you can be most effective as far as, you know, pushing them and, you know, getting them away so you can get up field. And I think it’s just all about how the defender approaches you.

TEREZ PAYLOR: So here’s what that means. He’s looking to see if you go high or if you go low. And he’s got an answer for both. But a word of advice, defenders, go low because when you go high there’s a good chance you’re also going viral as Buffalo Bills corner Josh Norman recently found out.

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DERRICK HENRY: If he approaches you high, you try to hit him in the shoulder pads or, you know, the helmet. Head out to the outside and, you know, one-on-one, you know, with the corner, which was Norman. You know, you stay high and, you know, just deliver my stiff arm. And you know, by the time I deliver it, I’ve got to step out of bounds. But I’m just trying to use it effectively as much as I can.

TEREZ PAYLOR: Now going low on Henry is the better option. But it’s still not a great one because he’s got an answer for that too.

DERRICK HENRY: When guys go low, I just try to bend and, you know, try to use as much of my stiff arm as I can to break the tackle. Like I said, I’m a tall guy, so a lot– a lot of guys tend to go low just to get me on the ground.

TEREZ PAYLOR: Now with a highlight reel finishing move like that, you might think Henry has a favorite one from the past five years. You’d be wrong.

DERRICK HENRY: Actually, I don’t really– I don’t really have one right now.

TEREZ PAYLOR: What?

DERRICK HENRY: I think whenever I’m– whenever I’m done playing–

TEREZ PAYLOR: OK.

DERRICK HENRY: –I can look at all the stiff arms and, you know, pick and choose one. But I don’t– I don’t really have a favorite one right now.

TEREZ PAYLOR: Yeah, but here’s why. Because he’s still playing. And he doesn’t want to tick anybody off, which means he plans on unleashing a lot more stiff arms, probably sooner rather than later.

Now the Titans are coming off a loss to Pittsburgh. And they’ll be ticked off. And they face the perfect opponent in the lowly Bengals, who own the league’s 21st ranked run defense in terms of DVOA. So a word of advice to the Bengals, go low and rally to the football just like the Steelers did this week. It’s the only chance you’ve got against the king of the stiff arm.