Pollard did not practice Wednesday nor Thursday this week due to an ankle issue. There’s a chance he misses his first game this season, as he’s officially listed as questionable for Week 15. If so, Tyjae Spears would likely elevate to the top of the depth chart with Julius Chestnut being his backup.
Spears is 5-foot-10, 201 pounds and was drafted in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Titans. He runs a 4.59 40 and is in the 90th percentile for burst score. He’s only in the 29th percentile for agility, though.
After Derrick Henry took his talents to Baltimore, there was a sliver of hope that Spears would be “The Guy.” But two days later, the Titans signed Pollard to a three-year deal.
From the outset, the split has been 60/40 in favor of Pollard. There were two games when it was 75/25 and one at 55/45, but Pollard has been the lead dawg all season. And Spears has never forced the issue for a change.
While the EPA per carry is slightly better (-0.1 vs 0.13), the yards per carry is only 3.7, compared to 4.4 for Pollard. From a receiving perspective, both the EPA per route and target are slightly worse than Pollard.
The matchup is a good one, in Week 15 as the Cincinnati Bengals have allowed the third-most EPA per carry, but the running game could get game-scripted out as the Bengals will likely be putting up points in this one. There could be some opportunities in the pass game, but Pollard has only received 53 targets on the season.
Spears will likely see close to 20 opportunities if Pollard is out, and volume is king. That said, he is not the most efficient player and it’s hard to have confidence in this offense that put up six points in a loss to Jacksonville last week.
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