Chris Johnson Predicting Monster Season For Derrick Henry After Julio Jones Trade

Chris Johnson says he's straight-up jealous of Derrick Henry ... telling TMZ Sports the Titans running back is going to FEAST in 2021 after the Julio Jones trade!!

"I wish I could've played there when we had that GM," the former Tennessee halfback said. "They doing what they got to do to win games."

As for why CJ2K sees Henry exploding ... Johnson says it's simple -- with Julio and A.J. Brown now on the outsides, Chris says it's not possible for defenses to just key in on Derrick.

"There's no way you can put 8, 9 in the box on Henry," Johnson tells us. "You got Julio on the outside. You got A.J. on the other side. So, you can't stack the box or anything like that."

"It's like, man, it's crazy."

It's a scary scene to think about -- especially for AFC South teams -- 'cause Henry was ALREADY a beast in 2020.

The 27-year-old monster ran for 2,027 yards, 17 touchdowns AND he added 114 receiving yards.

But, Johnson sees it going even better for Derrick with Julio on the team ... telling us, "I wish they would have made them moves when I was there."

"You love that move," Chris said of the blockbuster trade. "You don't want to continue to run against 8 and 9 in the box. You don't want to do that."

Johnson -- who by the way is opening up a chain of coffee shops in Florida that he hopes can compete with Starbucks someday -- says the move officially makes the Titans real contenders in 2021 for the Lombardi Trophy.