Titans running back Tyjae Spears will miss the first 4 games of the NFL season as he is being placed on IR.
The Titans backfield is taking shape, but not in the way the team hoped for. Third year back, Tyjae Spears is being placed on injured reserve as he still hasn’t recovered from a high ankle sprain.
Fantasy gamers have been hopeful of an ascendance for Spears as he finished the 2025 season with 3 top-12 weeks in fantasy football. While much was made in the offseason about Spears expanding his opportunity share in 2025, Tony Pollard has always been the favorite of the coaching staff.
Tony Pollard is a locked in RB-1 who goes at the end of round 6 on Underdog. Spears can currently be had in late round 14 and has fallen 2 rounds in the last week. Expect Pollard’s ADP to climb into round 5 while Spears becomes an early IR stash in redraft leagues.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears continues to ...
Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears has seen a ...
Tennessee Titans running backs coach Randy Jordan hinted ...
Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears will miss a few weeks due to a high ankle sprain.
Every season there are some high ranking handcuff running backs who provide upside at cost. Currently, Titans running back Tyjae Spears presents as one of those values at the 10-11 turn on Underdog. The issue is that Spears has now come down with a high ankle sprain.
This puts a damper on the hype that had been building. Titans coaches have been talking about getting Spears more opportunity share in the Titans backfield. With this injury, it will be tough to find out how serious the Titans staff is about increasing his workload.
Tony Pollard becomes a must click in round 7 on Underdog. Expect a Spears dip in ADP. For best ball drafts, Spears is a safer click due to not having to determine when to start him. For redraft leagues, Spears becomes someone who will likely start the season in the ‘IR’ slot for each respective format. Draft Tony Pollard with utmost confidence as he becomes an excellent zero-RB back to build around.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
After a strong finish to 2024, Titans head coach Brian Callahan envisions more playing time for running back Tyjae Spears.
Every offseason, fantasy gamers look for small nuggets for edges in drafts. One source of potential profit is mining value for backup running backs. To that end, Titans head coach Brian Callahan recently spoke to a more even workload for running backs Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears.
Currently on Underdog, Tony Pollard is being drafted in round 7 while Tyjae Spears is being drafted in round 11. This 4 round difference is something that could pay off tremendously should Spears get a more even workload or get the job should Tony Pollard miss time.
A reason for optimism includes Tyjae Spears finishing as the RB3, RB10, and RB12 from weeks 15-17. A reason for pessimism is that Pollard had 260 carries in 2024 to Tyjae Spears’ 84 rush attempts. Pollard was 9th in weighted opportunities while Spears was 44th.
Every type of hype sounds good in July. Drafting an even split of both Pollard and Spears is best practice for risk aversion, however when the play is live, coaches tend to revert to past practices. Until shown otherwise, expect Tony Pollard to get deference as the lead back in the Titans offense.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
Titans HC: “There is no backup. Both guys are starters”
A new era is underway in Nashville, TN. The offseason departure of Mike Vrabel as head coach and the hire of former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to replace him, along with the departure of Derrick Henry left many questions to be answered in the backfield. The Titans brought in former Cowboy and Memphis, TN native Tony Pollard, but he is coming off of career low in terms of efficiency despite being in the highest scoring offense in the NFL last year. Returning is second year back Tyjae Spears, who proved to be more than capable of handling change of pace duties when called upon. When asked questions about backfield usage, who is going to be the lead back and backup, and Brian Callahan is not ready to divulge any information regarding his plans for Pollard or the second year Spears just yet. It remains one of the most popular and most speculative mysteries for the 2024 season. When faced with this question, Callahan’s reply was: “They are both going to play quite a bit of football for us, and I don’t view either one of them as a starter or a back-up. They are both starting players to me.”
For fantasy purposes the ambiguity is maddening because a 50/50 timeshare would make them less than ideal rb2 candidates in lineup leagues and more flex worthy. If the stance by Titans coaching holds, we will likely have to rely on context clues like depth charts and watch closely during the preseason in order to make an educated guess. Pollard and Spears are currently very close in average draft position in bestball, with Pollard at rb29 and Spears at rb34. Their outlook will remain muddied unless one back is able to separate from the other in this competition. Per touch efficiency goes to the younger Spears, but Pollard has put together a top 12 season in limited work in spite of the his lack of efficiency going into his age 27 season.
Tennessee Titans new Head Coach, Brian Callahan, noticeably used the word “interchangeable” three times in a minute-long interview snippet when asked about the Titans plan to deploy their top two running backs this season.
The Titans backfield workload for Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears is currently undecided, with both players offering similar skillsets. Callahan expects their roles to become more defined as training camp unfolds, but clearly sees both players as valuable pieces.
Pollard signed a 3-year, $24 million contract to join the Titans earlier this offseason. While he struggled last year bouncing back from an injury suffered in the 2022 playoffs, his contract signing was one of the higher total values extended to running backs this offseason, indicating that the Titans believe he can be a highly involved contributor.
For Fantasy Managers, this coachspeak from Callahan can be interpreted as a signal that the Titans may plan to deploy a committee at running back, with both players drawing similar snap shares. Pollard currently has an ADP of 80.4 on Underdog, while Spears is close behind at 97.4. While they may creep a little closer together following this interview from Callahan, it’s a sound move to have both running backs outside the top 80 for now.
Titans GM, Ron Carthon, expressed his affinity for Tyjae Spears going into his second year during NFL Combine interviews.
It’s never a bad sign when your GM is gushing about you and praising your work ethic. Tyjae Spears appears to be in the perfect situation, with Derrick Henry set to leave during free agency, and the Titans brass giving him their vote of confidence.
Spears is clearly a player the fantasy community is excited about, and you can expect to see his dynasty value continue to rise if Henry leaves Tennessee and the Titans don’t add any serious threat in the backfield during free agency or the draft.
Fantasy managers should exercise a bit of caution this offseason with Spears. While Spears didn’t miss a single practice last year for the Titans, the fact remains that he is missing an ACL in one knee. It’s not out of the question for the Titans to add depth to their backfield, which could make Spears a sell high candidate at the moment.
