The Tennessee Titans will face the New England Patriots in Week 9. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding RB Tyjae Spears.
Is Tyjae Spears Playing in Week 9?
Tyjae Spears missed the Titans’ past two games with a hamstring injury. Head coach Brian Callahan thought Spears had a chance to suit up in Week 8, but he ended up not playing despite managing limited practices all week.
Spears put in another limited practice on Wednesday, but he regressed to a DNP on Thursday. After failing to participate on Friday, Spears was officially ruled out for Week 9.
Fellow Titans RB Tony Pollard (foot) is questionable to play on Sunday after sitting out of practice all week. If neither Tennessee back can play in Week 9, Julius Chestnut — a 2022 UDFA with 24 career touches — will start against the Patriots. New England is allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs and ranks 21st in rushing success rate.
We’ll continue to monitor the Titans’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Tyjae Spears?
A hamstring injury has forced Spears out of consecutive games; while he is thought to be trending in a positive direction, does it matter?
Titans running backs are averaging the fewest yards per carry before contact this season (32.9% less than any other team), something that I find unlikely to change given how little pressure this passing game puts on opposing defenses.
Spears is an interesting buy in dynasty formats due to a lack of early career usage, but with just one game of more than eight touches in 2024, he’s not someone redraft managers need to keep rostered.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Tyjae Spears’ Fantasy Points Projection in Week 9
Spears is projected to score 0 points.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insights: New England Patriots Defense
The New England Patriots have not had a lot to be positive about this season. Their special teams are their one bright spot because their offense and defense have been in a race for the bottom of the rankings this year. The offense just got there first before they made the change to Drake Maye, but the defense is not far behind.
Normally, we would try to highlight what a team is “good” at, but with the Patriots, it is about what they are least bad at. They are 19th in success rate against the run and 20th in red-zone efficiency, which are hardly great numbers to make a fuss about.
Given that Jerod Mayo is a defensive-minded head coach, the performance of this defense is arguably a bigger concern than an offense we always knew could struggle.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Tyjae Spears’ Week 9 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.Â
Conference Championship RB PPR Rankings
1) Saquon Barkley | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) James Cook | BUF (at KC)
3) Brian Robinson Jr. | WAS (at PHI)
4) Isiah Pacheco | KC (vs. BUF)
5) Kareem Hunt | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Austin Ekeler | WAS (at PHI)
7) Ray Davis | BUF (at KC)
8) Ty Johnson | BUF (at KC)
9) Samaje Perine | KC (vs. BUF)
10) Kenneth Gainwell | PHI (vs. WAS)
11) Jeremy McNichols | WAS (at PHI)
12) Will Shipley | PHI (vs. WAS)
13) Carson Steele | KC (vs. BUF)
14) Reggie Gilliam | BUF (at KC)
15) Chris Rodriguez Jr. | WAS (at PHI)
New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans Insights
New England Patriots
Team: The Patriots beat the Jets on Sunday with 247 yards of offense. Surprisingly, that was the eighth time in eight weeks a team has won with under 250 yards of offense (the Broncos also did it to the Jets in Week 4).
QB: Jacoby Brissett has yet to clear 5.5 yards per attempt in a game this season and has two touchdown passes on 159 attempts (Will Levis thinks that’s a low rate; he has five on 125 attempts this season).
Offense: The Patriots have converted six of seven red zone trips into touchdowns over the past three weeks (Weeks 1-5: 4-of-13).
Defense: New England’s defensive game plan adjusts as much week over week as any. They blitzed 17.2% of the time on Sunday – they’ve been at 25%, the lowest in four games, but also at 40% or the highest in three games, including Weeks 6-7).
Fantasy: Rhamondre Stevenson scored a pair of touchdowns on Sunday, but his 27 carries over the past two weeks have gained just 66 yards, and if Drake Maye misses time, even more running lanes are likely to close.
Betting: The Patriots are 1-3 ATS on the road this season – they’ve had plenty of issues since Tom Brady left town, but they’ve yet to have a losing ATS road record since his departure.
Tennessee Titans
Team: The Titans have been blown out in back-to-back weeks by Super Bowl contenders, but they own a +9 point differential this season in three games that are sub-.500 this season.
QB: Mason Rudolph averaged 15.6 yards per pass in the first quarter on Sunday and 3.9 the rest of the way.
Offense: The Titans converted 46.2% of their third downs in 2020. That number dipped to 43.6% in 2021, 36.5% in 2022, and 33.5% in 2023. Through eight weeks this season? The trend continues: 30.6%.
Defense: The Titans have failed to force a turnover in five of seven games this season.
Fantasy: Calvin Ridley had 118 first-quarter receiving yards, the 10th most in a first quarter since the start of 2015. He entered the game with 56 receiving yards in his four games prior.
Betting: The Titans have failed to cover all three home games this season and are just 1-5-1 ATS over their past seven in front of their fans.
