The Tennessee Titans’ backfield was projected to be a split last season. Instead, Tony Pollard wound up being one of the most heavily used workhorses in the league. What can fantasy football managers expect from the Titans’ RB1 in his second season with the team?
Tony Pollard Fantasy Outlook
After Pollard’s disappointing and inefficient 2023 season, I will be the first to admit I was far more excited about the incumbent than the new guy. Tyjae Spears was already on the Titans. He displayed considerable upside as a rookie playing behind Derrick Henry. With the King off to Baltimore, the stage was set for Spears to take on a bigger role. That’s not what happened.
In what was supposed to be a split backfield, Pollard was the clear victor. He wound up logging a 68.8% snap share and a 79% opportunity share, both ranking ninth in the league.
Pollard also wasn’t just the early down back. He dominated passing down snaps as well, earning a 12% target share, ranking top 10 in both targets and carries. He bested Spears considerably in every volume metric.
Yet, even with his unexpectedly high volume, Pollard didn’t do much with it. He saw all those targets, but averaged a mere 1.08 yards per route run, 31st in the league. His 4.4 yards per touch ranked 42nd. And most importantly for fantasy managers, he only averaged 0.63 fantasy points per opportunity, 64th in the league.
Despite these inefficiencies, Pollard looked far more explosive than in the previous season. He looked like his pre-injury self. As a reminder, Pollard broke his leg in 2022 and was negatively impacted in 2023.
Tony Pollard bounced back in a big way in 2024!
Yards after contact per rush:
3.6 – 2020
3.6 – 2021
3.8 – 2022
2.9 – 2023
3.4 – 2024Here’s every run charted as “10+ yards after contact” pic.twitter.com/tfyWc4RciA
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) June 24, 2025
With that said, head coach Brian Callahan indicated he wanted a more even split between Pollard and Spears this year. Considering how much Pollard dominated the backfield last season, a volume reduction could be problematic after he was only able to average 12.5Â fantasy points per game.
On the other hand, the Titans should be much better. Cam Ward is a significant upgrade on Will Levis. The Titans play in a weak division and shouldn’t be trailing as much as they were last season.
They ran the ball 49% of the time in neutral game script, the sixth-highest rate in the league. They did have a 66% negative game script pass rate. With Ward helping them become more competitive, the Titans should be able to run the ball more effectively.
It’s hard to see the path to high upside for Pollard this season. However, even if Spears takes on a larger role, Pollard should remain the 1a and the goal line back. Plus, all of this is baked into his ADP.
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Pollard finished as the overall RB22 last year. Yet, on what should be a better offense, he’s now being drafted as the RB28, which is exactly where I have him ranked.
Pollard is the type of player you don’t really want to target in fantasy drafts unless you’re getting a discount. I will take him at the right price, but he is someone where a hit will yield a small win, but a miss could make him unstartable.
You want to draft players who have asymmetrical upside, or, at the very least, symmetrical upside. Pollard has asymmetrical downside. Therefore, he would have to be a pretty significant value for me to push that button.
Frank Ammirante’s Tony Pollard Projection
Tony Pollard gets a bump in value with fellow back Tyjae Spears nursing a high ankle sprain, which could force him to miss a bit of time during the regular season. Expect the Pollard to handle a heavy workload if that’s the case.
What’s appealing here is that there’s significant improvement in team context, with first-round rookie Cam Ward representing a massive upgrade at quarterback. With the Titans’ offense likely improving, that means more touchdown opportunities for Pollard. That’s great news for a potential workhorse — at least early in the season.
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If you wait on RB2 due to a WR-heavy start to your drafts, it makes sense to ride with the projected volume that Pollard brings to the table.Â
With that said, it’s unlikely that he’ll crack the top 15 because there’s certainly going to be growing pains with Ward, plus Spears will eventually return to the lineup and take away volume. Pollard’s price is going to get close (or even surpass) exciting rookies like RJ Harvey, which makes me hesitant to pay up for the bump in value.
