Tyjae Spears has been a useful player ever since entering the league three years ago. He’s had moments of brilliance, but the Tennessee Titans never committed to him as the lead back. Now entering the final year of his rookie deal, Spears is eager to prove to both the NFL and fantasy football managers that he can be more than what he’s been thus far.
Should You Draft Tyjae Spears in Fantasy Football?
Spears has been one of the most consistent and predictable running backs in fantasy. He’s averaged between 8.6 and 9.5 fantasy points per game in each of his first three seasons. The numbers aren’t flashy, but you know what you’re getting. The problem, of course, is relative value.
As a rookie, Spears posting 9.1 PPG was a massive win. He wasn’t expected to do anything while playing alongside Derrick Henry. Yet, he managed to be a viable RB3, excelling as a pass catcher. Spears’ 14.7% target share in his rookie year remains a career high.
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In 2024, after showing positive signs as a rookie, Spears was all set to assume the lead back role…or so we thought. The Titans had other ideas. Evidently not confident in his ability to lead a backfield, they signed Tony Pollard. In what was initially billed as a committee was anything but.
Spears’ opportunity share held steady at 38% (just 3.2% above the previous year). He also missed five games due to injury, which has become an unfortunate recurring theme. Spears was still a very effective receiver, as evidenced by his 1.81 yards per route run. But he only saw a 9.9% target share as Pollard operated as a true three-down back.
In 2025, it was more of the same. Spears once again missed four games due to injury. After his return, he was the same old 36.1% opportunity share guy. He did see a 12% target share, but a reduction in rushing volume combined with no goal-line role and a poor Titans offense saw him post a career-worst 8.6 PPG.
The thing with Spears is, I do think he can be a feature back. He’s a bit undersized at 201 pounds, but we’ve seen backs on the lighter side handle heavy volume in the modern NFL.
Spears has a two-game sample of lead-back duties. He recorded 27.2 and 21.6 fantasy points in two games where Pollard was hurt at the end of the 2024 season. Of course, the Titans being willing to give him all the work he can handle at the end of a season after an injury to their starter is a lot different than any team committing to feeding him 20+ touches per game for an entire year.
Spears’ Redraft Fantasy Football Value
There is very little excitement surrounding Spears this season. It’s interesting because this could be the best version of the Titans offense he’s played on. We have no reason to believe Spears’ role will be any different than it’s been. Therefore, if the overall offense, which ranked 31st in scoring last season, is better, Spears should also be better.
Yet, Spears’ ADP is way down at RB48. He’s going 20 spots behind Pollard. Are we sure the gap between them should be that wide?
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Perhaps there is some concern about Nick Singleton. However, head coach Robert Saleh made it a point to say Pollard and Spears were his guys, and I believe him. I don’t think Singleton sees more than a couple of touches per game as long as Pollard and Spears are healthy.
I’ve always liked Spears and think he deserves more burn than he’s gotten. Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening. We’re likely in for another year of boring Pollard production. Spears will have spike weeks; he always does. Predicting them will be damn near impossible.
With that said, Spears is a virtual lock to outperform his ADP expectation. At worst, we should get another 8-10 PPG. Last season, the RB49 was around 7.5 PPG.
Of course, we don’t really care about anyone averaging 7-8 PPG in fantasy. Drafting a guy expected to post 7 PPG who ends up at 10 PPG is not exactly moving the needle.
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However, there is some contingent upside in the fact that if Pollard were to miss time, Spears would start and see more work. It wouldn’t be what it was at the end of the 2024 season because he’d share early down work with Singleton, but he’d likely be a weekly RB2.
I have Spears ranked as my RB46. That’s slightly above consensus, but also a meaningless distinction that far down in rankings. No one in that range is particularly exciting. If Spears interests you, then he’s a perfectly viable RB4 or RB5 on 2026 fantasy rosters.
Spears’ Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
This is the final year of Spears’ rookie contract. It’s entirely likely the 2027 starting running back for the Titans is not currently on the team. Both Pollard and Spears may very well be gone, and Singleton is a rookie fifth-rounder. He is not guaranteed anything. It is far more likely Tennessee drafts someone on Day 2 next year to be their running back of the future than commits to Singleton, especially if he barely plays behind Pollard and Spears this season.
If the Titans are going to retain either of their two backs, it would be Spears. But my guess is he wants a more prominent role. Will he get one? Color me skeptical.
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We’ve seen the best-laid plans for backups with starter aspirations go awry. Tyler Allgeier thought he was getting the Cardinals lead-back role, and then they drafted Jeremiyah Love No. 3 overall. So much for that.
The most likely outcome is Spears signs onto a team with a clear early down back and continues to do what he does best, which is serve as that satellite/slasher back who is effective in the passing game.
Spears is RB43 in our consensus dynasty rankings. That’s pretty low for a 25-year-old back who has shown the ability to at least be more than that. No dynasty trade will ever revolve around Spears, but he could be a sneaky piece to get thrown into a deal that probably returns more value than his cost, more often than not.
