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Pollard looks headed for another season as Tennessee's lead back, but the fantasy ceiling is limited. His efficiency has declined for multiple years, Tyjae Spears is likely to siphon passing-down work, and a shaky offense caps the TD upside.
Pollard is a reasonable value if he slips into RB3 range, but don’t expect him to be a needle mover.
Customize Pollard’s projection for your exact league settings inside the Draft War Room.
Pollard ran for 1,082 yards and 5 TDs in 17 games last year, adding 206 yards on 33 catches. He finished 28th among RBs in PPR points per game and 30th in half-PPR.
Pollard did his best work late in the season, averaging 15.5 PPR points (RB14) over his final five games. He finished as a top-24 PPR RB in four of those five games, after doing so in just three of his first 12.
Pollard operated as Tennessee’s lead back throughout the season. Here’s where he ranked among all RBs in key usage metrics:
Pollard’s usage took a hit when RB Tyjae Spears returned from injury in Week 5. Here are the splits:
Pollard’s 10.9 expected PPR points per game from Week 5 on ranked 33rd among RBs.
Pollard registered mediocre rushing efficiency metrics last year. Among 51 RBs with 90+ carries, he ranked:
Pollard beat Spears in yards per carry, yards after contact per attempt, and PFF grade. Spears beat Pollard in missed tackles forced per attempt.
Spears also beat Pollard in yards per route and PFF receiving grade. Pollard struggled in those departments, finishing 38th and 35th, respectively, among 40 qualifying RBs.
Pollard played on a bad Titans team last year that finished 3-14 and trailed for 67.1% of their offensive snaps.
The offense ranked:
Pollard didn’t get much help from his offensive line, either. Tennessee finished 23rd in PFF run-blocking grade and 26th in ESPN run-block win rate.
After spending his first three seasons playing behind Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas, Pollard has produced four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He’s also averaged 42 catches and 282 receiving yards per year over that span.
Pollard’s finishes among RBs in PPR points per game:
His efficiency has waned, though. After averaging 5.1 yards per carry across his first four seasons, including 5.2 in 2022, he has averaged 4.2 over the last three. He has posted career lows in PFF rushing grade in two straight seasons and has recorded two of his three lowest yards after contact averages over the last two years.
Pollard has also failed to reach 0.8 yards per route in three straight seasons. He averaged 1.46 across his first four seasons.
Volume can still carry Pollard to usable weeks. Betting on his old per-touch juice is the tougher sell.
Pollard has not missed a game with injury in any of the last three seasons. But he did suffer a fractured fibula and high-ankle sprain on his left side in a playoff loss on January 22, 2023. He had surgery a couple of days later and was ready by training camp the following year.
Pollard wasn’t the same player that next season, though, setting career lows in yards per carry (4.0) and yards after contact per carry (2.92).
Pollard returns to Tennessee for the final year of his contract. Spears is also back in a contract year.
The Titans added Nicholas Singleton to the backfield in Round 5 of the draft. He boasts an enticing combination of size and speed but was out-produced by Kaytron Allen at Penn State. The rookie is worth tracking this summer, but HC Robert Saleh made it clear in June that Singleton is the clear No. 3 RB for now.
“He’s learning it all, he’s got a long way to go, from that regard, like all rookies do,” Saleh said of Singleton. “But to be clear, Tony and Tyjae are the bellcows of this football team, and Nick’s got to compete his way in to find his way into that group.”
It’s also interesting, of course, that Saleh called both Pollard and Spears the bellcows. He added this:
“But those two complement each other very, very well. They’re both really, really good third-down backs. I remember last year that you’re not beating Tony 1-on-1 in a protection system. The guy is an elite blocker, and he’s also really good out of the backfield. And then Tyjae is really good from a route-running ability. They do a really nice job complementing one another.”
Pollard remains the favorite to lead this backfield, but a new coaching staff makes the workload more fluid.
The Titans are hoping to get a better Year 2 from QB Cam Ward. He struggled as a rookie, ranking 36th or worse among 42 qualifying QBs in:
Adding WRs Carnell Tate and Wan’Dale Robinson should help.
On the offensive line, the Titans return three starters from last year in LT Dan Moore, RT J.C. Latham, and G Peter Skoronski. There will be competition at the other two spots, with none of the potential winners inspiring.
This projects to again be a subpar-to-bad offensive line.
The Titans will be operating a new offense this season under OC Brian Daboll. He flamed out as Giants HC but had a nice run as Bills OC from 2018-2021.
Daboll has shown a willingness to tailor his play-calling to his personnel. His later Bills teams leaned pass with Josh Allen, but the Giants shifted toward the run with much worse QB play. Expect Tennessee's offense to land somewhere between balanced and run-leaning, depending on Ward’s development.
Pollard is the favorite to lead Tennessee in carries. If he can maintain a decent-sized role in the passing game alongside Spears, and this offense improves significantly in Cam Ward’s second season, Pollard could score as a fantasy RB2.
Pollard is a 29-year-old back with waning efficiency. He projects to lose passing-down work to Spears, and could lose more carries to Spears and/or Singleton this year.
Plus, this Titans offense will struggle again if Ward doesn’t play better.
Pollard’s floor sinks below RB3 territory.
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Let's Talk Titans Backfield ... and Whether It'll Matter At All
Let's Talk Titans Backfield ... and Whether It'll Matter At All
Tennessee returns Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears to an offense that ranked just 30th in rushing yards and 28th in total RB PPR points last season. The Titans added RB Nicholas Singleton out of Penn State in Round 5. So how should we expect that trio to fit together in the first season under HC Robert Saleh and OC Brian Daboll?
Nicholas Singleton Heads to The Titans in Round 5
Nicholas Singleton Heads to The Titans in Round 5
The Tennessee Titans selected Penn State RB Nicholas Singleton in Round 5 of the 2026 NFL Draft. Singleton brings rare straight-line speed for his size and a slashing style. He’s also one of the top pass-catching backs. Penn State never unleashed him as a true workhorse, but he did play alongside four-star recruit Kaytron Allen. The duo split carries near-evenly across 2022-23 before Allen led 15.3 to 10.9 over the past two seasons. That’s concerning for Singleton’s usage projection. Among the 20 RBs invited to the NFL Combine, Singleton ranked 18th in 2025 rushing market share (25.8%), and in yards after contact per attempt (2.69). He ranked 19th in 2025 missed tackles forced per attempt (0.15) and fifth in receiving yards per route run (1.52). He is currently 22 years old.
Where Has This Tony Pollard Been?
Where Has This Tony Pollard Been?
Titans RB Tony Pollard racked up 161 yards and 2 TDs on a season-high 25 carries in Sunday's narrow victory over the Browns. The game marked the first time since Week 5 that Pollard found the end zone or rushed more than 11 times. His production relied heavily on TD runs of 65 and 32 yards, which accounted for 60.3% of his rushing yardage for the game. Pollard averaged just 2.8 yards across his other 23 attempts, which falls much more in line with the Cleveland rushing matchup for the year.
Tyjae Spears Leads Titans' Backfield Split
Tyjae Spears Leads Titans' Backfield Split
For the third time in Tennessee's last 5 games, Tyjae Spears out-snapped Tony Pollard in the Titans' 16-13 Week 11 loss to the Texans. Spears played 32 snaps to Pollard's 29, but neither back had much success against Houston's top-ranked defense. Tennessee only ran for 58 yards in the game, and QB Cam Ward was the team's leading rusher with 33 of those yards. Pollard and Spears combined to rush 14 times for 25 yards -- an average of just 1.78 yards per carry.
Tyjae Spears Leads Backfield Playing Time, Production
Tyjae Spears Leads Backfield Playing Time, Production
Titans RB Tyjae Spears ran for a team-high 59 yards and Tennessee's lone ground score in Sunday's loss to the Colts. He added 3 receptions for 23 yards among three targets, also beating RB Tony Pollard in each of those categories. Spears accounted for a lot of those yards on just two plays: a 41-yard run in the second quarter and a 17-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter. But he also beat Pollard in total snaps and pass routes for the game, and trailed Pollard by only two carries.
See whether Tony Pollard is available in your leagues.
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