The Titans are traveling to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars in Week 17, but they will be without Tony Pollard (ankle, illness), leaving Tyjae Spears ($5,400) in a great spot for DFS and season-long fantasy championships. Spears is in a smash spot against the Jags, and if he gets all the work, he could be the key to claiming a win this week.
Here’s the latest news regarding Pollard via ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
Titans downgraded RB Tony Pollard (ankle, illness) to out for Sunday’s game vs. the Jaguars.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 28, 2024
Tyjae Spears’ high ceiling
In the last two weeks, Spears exploded for 27.2 and 21.6 fantasy points against the Bengals and Colts. After scoring just one touchdown in the first 14 weeks of the season, Spears had two touchdowns in each of those games.
In Week 15, he did most of his damage as a receiver out of the backfield, catching six passes for 87 yards and a touchdown and adding a second score on the ground with four carries for five yards.
In Week 16, both his touchdowns came on the ground while he took 10 carries for 27 yards. He caught 3-of-4 targets last week for 39 more yards as well.
The impressive part of Spears’ production is that he was barely playing half the team’s snaps. In Week 15, he played 39 snaps while Pollard played 31, and in Week 16, he played 37 while Pollard played 24. No other running back played any offensive snaps, so if Pollard is out, Spears could get a much larger workload.
Julius Chestnut ($4,000) would likely get a few snaps with Pollard out, but Spears would get the lions’ share of the work.
The matchup
The Jaguars have allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season, giving up 19 running back touchdowns in 15 games and allowing an average of 99.3 rushing yards and 45.3 receiving yards.
Spears’ yards-per-carry hasn’t been impressive this season, but he has proven that he can get into the end zone, and with more early-down work available, he’ll be an excellent value play in Week 17 contests like the NFL $2.25M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
The Bottom Line
Spears and the Titans are one-point road favorites, and he has -110 odds to score a touchdown. With Pollard out, Spears will be a strong RB2 play in season-long leagues and an elite DFS option.
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