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.
Cameron Sheath’s Tony Pollard Projection
Tony Pollard was one of Tennessee’s big winners during the 2025 offseason. Stuck with the unenviable task of spearheading a dysfunctional Titans offense led by Will Levis last year, he didn’t get the reward his hard work deserved.
Only two teams averaged fewer yards per drive than Tennessee (26.9) in 2024, while just two averaged fewer points per drive (1.6). Pollard scored just five of the team’s 33 touchdowns, something he’ll be looking to improve on this season.
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Offensive reinforcements have been brought in to help rookie QB Cam Ward settle into the NFL. However, notable offensive line additions and a new quarterback should also help Pollard spend more time in the opponents’ halves of the field moving forward.
Pollard was tied with Alexander Mattison and Anthony Richardson for the 30th-most rush attempts in the NFL from inside the 10-yard line last season. An improved offense should bring more scoring opportunities for the former Cowboy, and therefore an improvement on his RB21 finish in 2024. He is still unlikely to break into RB1 range this year, but should prove a value on his RB26 ADP in drafts.
