Tony Pollard just signed with the Tennessee Titans on a 3-year deal worth 24 million dollars. Let’s look at the fantasy impact of the move on the entire Titan backfield.
Impact on Tyjae Spears
From a fantasy perspective, I see this signing as a bit of a death knell for everyone involved. Tyjae Spears won’t get near the volume people were projecting for him and everyone who bought him this offseason or is rostering him right now is stuck holding the bag with this signing. The worst part about this signing for me is that Pollard’s and Spears’ skill sets line up with one another, making it hard to envision a world where they complement each other effectively. Given their similar skill sets it can be hard to predict which RB will get the first chance at carries in this backfield in 2024, given the contract I’d expect Tony Pollard to get the first chance at meaningful carries.
Some may make the case that given what we saw from him last year Spears is still the more talented RB here and that the cream will eventually rise to the top—I don’t buy this argument. If the Titans were happy with what they had in Spears, they’d have no reason to sign Pollard and pay him that much money.
Impact on Tony Pollard
Tony Pollard goes from a situation where he had an excellent offensive line and good passing game to take the pressure off the run game to the Tennessee Titans—a team that has neither of those. Pollard also played poorly despite the positive situation last season, though I’m willing to give him somewhat of a pass for that as he was coming off a broken leg and finished the year stronger than he began. My biggest concern for Pollard is he struggled at the goal line last season and showed us he is better in a complementary role. Now in Tennessee, both Pollard and Spears feel like complementary guys with neither being able to separate themselves from the other. Given the contract, Pollard should get the first opportunity for carries as the RB1 in this offense, but Tyjae Spears likely kills his fantasy value just as Pollard does for Spears.
Conclusion
I want no part of the Titan backfield moving forward for fantasy purposes. We’ve now got two RBs with very similar skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses competing with each other for meaningful carries. I can’t see either separating themselves from one another. I believe Spears is the more talented RB here, but given the Pollard contract, I’m not sure how much that will matter, nor am I confident that Spears is wholly better than Pollard. If you invested in Spears already this offseason at cost, you’ve got to hold him and hope Pollard goes the way of Miles Sanders in Carolina.
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