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 Los Angeles Chargers to help you craft a winning lineup.
Cameron Ward, QB
Cam Ward continues to seek his first multi-TD pass game of his career, so while it’s nice to see some reasonable yardage totals through the air (255+ yards in three of four games in October), he’s still nowhere near fantasy radars in one-QB leagues.
The return of Calvin Ridley helps his upside case, but it doesn’t mitigate the low floor that comes with this rookie’s development. Ward has been sacked at least four times in three straight games and six times this season: this isn’t a situation built for fantasy success.
Will that change in 2026?
We can only hope.
Tony Pollard, RB
Tony Pollard is fine, and fine isn’t going to cut it when you have a younger back breathing down your neck.
Pollard wasn’t great when Tyjae Spears was on the shelf to open this season, but he didn’t need to be; he was the only man for the job. He averaged 16.4 carries per game through the first five weeks, a role that was given, not earned (one 15+ yard rush on 82 attempts).
With Spears back, Pollard hasn’t reached a dozen carries in three straight and is trending in the wrong direction for a player with an out in his contract after this season. This isn’t even a Spears thing as much as it is a roster construction thing.
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Ward is viewed as the future of this franchise, and his meshing with a 24-year-old back is worth more than his getting comfortable with a 28-year-old.
Pollard should remain rostered in all formats due to his proximity to a 15-17 touch role, but he’s my RB2 in Tennessee moving forward, and that puts him outside of my top 30 when evaluating his value league-wide.
Tyjae Spears, RB
This is about as committee-like as a committee can get, but at least we have some signal to lead us.
Weeks 6-8
- Tyjae Spears: 50.8% snap share, 58 routes, 29 touches
- Tony Pollard: 49.2% snap share, 50 routes, 36 touches
Last week, albeit in a blowout defeat, the Titans made a reasonably quick move to Spears. After Pollard handled six of eight first-quarter backfield snaps (5-0 edge in touches), it was Spears operating as the RB1 the rest of the way (12-7 touch edge, including 4-1 inside the 20).
His vision and patience were showcased on a 41-yard gain in the second quarter, a play we would have preferred he finish with a TD, but it was still the type of highlight that stands to earn him playing time as Tennessee shifts its focus from 2025 to 2026 and beyond.
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Pollard is pacing for a career-low yards-per-carry, so while Spears already appears to be the preferred option as a pass catcher, don’t be surprised if this turns into Spears’ backfield with Pollard moments, rather than the other way around.
I had Spears ranked as a reasonable flex and Pollard on the backend of that tier in Week 8, and I saw nothing to back me off of that general feel entering Week 9.
Calvin Ridley, WR
The hamstring injury that Ridley suffered in Week 6 held him out for a second consecutive game, and a soft tissue issue for a 30-year-old receiver on a struggling offense is a tough sell.
The lone redeeming quality in this profile is that he’s really the only option, and Tennessee is motivated to give Cam Akers as many live reps as they can. That’s more narrative than a statistical thread that can reliably be pulled every week, but we have to sell hope when it comes to filling out our benches.
Ridley isn’t a weekly starter when healthy, and I’d bet against him changing that moving forward. There is, however, a path for him to work into flex consideration as this season progresses, and that’s more than the players on your waiver wire can claim.
Chig Okonkwo, TE
Chig Okonkwo is an efficient player by nature (a short route running athlete), and we’ve seen that with Ward this season (80% catch rate or better in three of his past four games).
Even with that in hand, there’s just not enough meat on this bone, even at the tight end position. He has six career touchdowns, and this offense largely isn’t in the same zip code as the end zone. Okonkwo has been unable to find much of a ceiling with Ridley sidelined, and that puts him at the very back end of TE streamers moving forward.
He plays and he sees targets. That alone is worthy of keeping eyes on him, but until we see Ward take a meaningful step forward, there’s not much to chase.