The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Tennessee Titans players heading into their matchup with the New Orleans Saints to help you craft a winning lineup.
Cameron Ward, QB
Cam Ward has three multi-pass TD games this season.
Cam Ward has three straight multi-pass-TD games.
It doesn’t always work this cleanly, but in this instance, the growth is easy to track. The speed of the pro game clearly was an issue early on (57.6% complete with more interceptions than touchdowns before the Week 10 bye), but as you’d expect from a quick study, high-pedigree prospect, he’s progressed.
Weeks 11-16
- 63.9% complete
- 8 TD passes
- 1 INT
It’s far from perfect, and the supporting cast needs an upgrade before Ward is anywhere close to our redraft radars. Still, dynasty managers should be encouraged by everything that this season has brought: they have an asset whose stock is on the rise, but not so much that the Titans have played themselves out of adding more quality talent in the upcoming draft.
Tony Pollard, RB
If I told you that one running back who doesn’t call the AFC East home ripped off three straight games with 100 rushing yards, how long would it take you to land on Tony Pollard as that single player?
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An hour? A day? Would you give up after 20 wrong guesses?
In those three games, 41.7% of his carries have gained 5+ yards, and while the scoring equity is limited (five of 61 touches have come in the red zone), he’s averaged over 3.4 yards per carry after contact in all of them.
Tyjae Spears was also effective against the Chiefs last week (18 touches for 105 yards), and the snaps were pretty tight (38-33 in Pollard’s favor). The team has made it reasonably clear that they prefer Pollard in competitive spots and Spears when they are forced into a passing script.
New Orleans has been playing better, but unless you think they really get rolling, it’s hard to imagine them dictating Tennessee’s playcalling in a significant way. I don’t believe so. Pollard becomes the first RB with four straight 100-yard games, but I do think he can do enough to hit starting lineups in all formats.
Tyjae Spears, RB
It’s too little too late.
Tyjea Spears handled five of seven running back red zone touches for the Titans last week, cashed in a carry from the four-yard line, and impressed with a 34-yard reception on Tennessee’s fifth drive as the featured RB, but it’s too late.
If his usage came as a result of Tony Pollard struggling, then I’d work to talk myself into him exploiting this matchup and breathing life into this offense for the next season, but it’s not.
Pollard is one of three running backs this season with three straight 100-yard rushing games and still holds the lead in this backfield when it comes to snaps and carries.
READ MORE: Kyle Soppe’s Fantasy Football Week 17 Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: Playoff Edition
Maybe we see this team commit to an enhanced role next season (for the record, I think he could handle 13-15 touches a game and offer weekly flex appeal), but for Week 17, I wouldn’t chase the production you missed out on last week.
Chimere Dike, WR
There seems to be something here, and while Chimere Dike is a fringe asset at best now, I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes a big step forward in his second season, developing alongside Cam Ward.
The fourth-round pick has a TD or a rushing attempt in five straight games, proving that he is viewed as an asset once the ball gets in his hands. Week 16 featured a tremendous 30-yard catch on the sideline, sparking a drive that he eventually finished off with a one-yard score, his fourth TD of the season.
I have him outside of my top 40 this week, but I tentatively penciled him into my top 40 for 2026.
Chig Okonkwo, TE
There’s no bad day to have a great day, but Chig Okonkwo scoring 16.4 PPR points (his first game with even a dozen points this season) didn’t exactly help those of us who had shares of him in October.
This is an athletic profile at a challenging position with a developing, high-pedigree QB. In theory, this is a profile we should like.
He was the target on Cam Ward’s first completion last week (two 15-yard receptions in the first quarter were nice), and his first touchdown of the season came on a nice design for a seven-yard shovel pass.
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I want him to be viable next season, and I hope that he will be. I’ll go on record with this: it’ll be him or Theo Johnson that emerges as a TE with a second-year star QB that helps fantasy teams.
Ideally, both, but at least one of them. Check back in August to see where I settle!
One reasonable effort, however, isn’t enough to land him inside my Top 15 this week: you can find better.
