UPDATE – November 1, 4:17pm: Tony Pollard is officially listed as questionable after not practicing all week, while backup Tyjae Spears has been ruled out, despite returning to practice on Wednesday.
Though there is still a chance that Pollard suits up, it’s looking more and more like the Titans might be relying on Julius Chestnut this weekend against the Patriots. Chestnut saw just 18.4% of the snaps in Week 8’s blowout loss to the Lions, and most of that was in what would be considered garbage time. Still, the 24-year-old garnered seven carries and turned that workload into 32 rushing yards.
New England has actually been pretty awful at defending the run this season, as the team has surrendered the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing RBs. The Patriots are also giving up 133.1 opponent rushing yards per contest through eight weeks.
Chestnut has zero track record of success and the Titans’ implied total is microscopic. However, if he truly is the last man standing, you have to take a look in season-long and DFS. — Garion Thorne
Oh, the Tennessee Titans. They’ve provided some quality entertainment for the season (thank you, Will Levis memes), but not much fantasy production. Currently, Tony Pollard ($6,800) sits as the 26th running back in fantasy football the last three weeks, averaging 13.67 DraftKings FPTS, 17.6 carries and 82.6 rushing yards. Pollard is dealing with a foot injury and has sat out of practices on Wednesday and Thursday, making his availability for Sunday vs. the Patriots concerning.
If he is ruled out, Tyjae Spears ($4,700) would be the next guy in line to get work in the backfield. Is Spears a good enough handcuff in Week 9 to bring back value?
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Let’s open up this conversation with the facts: Spears is also dealing with an injury. He was held out of practice on Thursday due to a hamstring injury, so Friday’s practice will be a determining factor if he suits up for Week 9 or not. That being said, Spears’ sophomore year in Tennessee has not jumped off the page. The Tulane alum is averaging just 7.4 FPTS per game and only has 33 carries for 114 rush yards on the season. In all reality, the Titans offense hasn’t been able to get much, if anything, going on the ground when Pollard is off the field. With Pollard in the backfield, Tennessee averages 4.7 yards per carry in comparison to only 3.8 y/c with Pollard off—and zero touchdowns.
As for the matchup, the Patriots defense is very middle-of-the-pack against the run, allowing 4.5 y/c to backs, but has allowed the 5th-highest EPA per dropback (0.1) this season to quarterbacks—if Spears is going to collect fantasy points, it could be from the checkdown. Spears did rack up 54 receiving yards in Week 3 vs. the Packers, but has yet to hit anywhere close to that mark since. In a troubling offense, Spears could possibly be a FLEX in a deep league, but is a sit for me other than that.
To stay up to date on both Pollard’s and Spears injuries, tune in to Injury Report Live Friday at 3 p.m. ET streaming on DraftKings on YouTube and DK Network! — Meghan Townsley
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.