The first drive of the NFL season ended with a five-yard run over the middle by Baltimore Ravens tight end Derrick Henry. The former Tennessee Titans All-Pro was productive in the first half with his new team.

Henry is a very unusual running back — 30 years old, a ton of miles on his knees and somehow worth every penny. In a league that is moving away from experienced running backs and bell cow roles, Henry continues to tear through defenses with his unmatched strength and straight line speed.

It’s common to compare the best running backs to bowling balls, but Henry deserves that distinction more than anyone else. He’s a blunt-force weapon, charging down the throats of opposing defenses looking for contact without shying away from it. He’s lost some of his lateral quickness, some of that classic shortstop agility, but Henry is still tough to tackle. At 6-foot-2 and 247 pounds, even the NFL’s best defensive lineman might have trouble wrapping his arms around him.

The Ravens managed to sign Henry as a free agent on a two-year, $16 million contract. That’s a lot by modern running back standards, but it looks suspiciously like Henry was underpaid. The Ravens’ offense is focused on a productive running game, and Henry seems like he could dominate early touches for another decade. He may never truly be at the top.

Several teams will likely regret passing on Henry, especially if the Ravens mount another run to the AFC title game, but one team stands out from the rest. You know who I mean.

The Dallas Cowboys’ offseason has been marked by infuriating inaction. In the face of monumental contract negotiations with CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, Jerry Jones spent most of the summer saving. Dallas largely gave up on building up its running backs room after losing Tony Pollard to Tennessee to replace Henry. Rather than draft a high-octane rookie or spend money on a top free agent, the Cowboys reunited with Ezekiel Elliott on a modest one-year deal.

This is the replay to end all replays. Zeke was pretty awful in his final stint with the Cowboys. That’s why he ended up as a backup for the bad, bad Patriots last season. There’s obvious sentimental value in bringing Zeke back to Dallas, but keeping him as an RB1 in 2024 is a ridiculous mistake. The Cowboys have built their offense around a productive running game in recent years, but it’s hard to feel good about the one-two punch of Elliot and Rico Dowdle.

Henry making $8 million a season is a lot, but it’s not enough to break the bank. Instead of whining all summer about the financial struggles surrounding a quarterback extension, Jones should have made a sincere effort to address the weak position. Henry is the classic Cowboys running back — basically Zeke on steroids at this point, a power back who can actually shed tackles and explode through the defense.

It’s the first game of the season and we’re already reminded of how Jones has gotten things wrong this offseason as the Cowboys’ GM. Let’s see if he can get this Prescott deal done and stop more bad vibes.