Titans beat expects a running back committee?

Both Pollard and Spears are entering contract years. Pollard, 29, has missed just one game over the past two seasons, while Spears, 24, has missed nine. Spears also entered the NFL with concerns regarding one of his knees, which has full thickness cartilage loss and is missing its ACL. Pollard has been far more productive than Spears, who acknowledges he needs to prove his consistency to the coaching staff, but Pollard’s age is working against him. Both players appear locked into the top-two spots on the depth chart, but Glennon thinks it’s “not a huge stretch to see” RB Nicholas Singleton becoming the team’s primary ball-carrier in 2027. Of course, we are a long way from having an answer to this. The Titans’ backfield developments in training camp are worth following, though.

Singleton broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot at the Senior Bowl, so the team has had to slowly add more to the rookie running back’s workload over the last few weeks. He reportedly worked more on Tuesday than he has at any point this offseason. That said, Titans coach Robert Saleh spoke with the media on Thursday and referred to RBs Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears as “the bellcows.” He adds that Singleton is big, fast and “learning it all,” but he must “compete his way” into the running back group.

Listing Pollard as a bellcow comes as no surprise. Saleh has spoken positively of him already. Including Spears in the “bellcow” column is notable, but we still expect him to be second on the depth chart. Pollard out-touched Spears 275 to 117 last season. Perhaps Spears can tack on a few more touches this year.

Singleton has decent odds of making the roster as the Titans’ RB3 and special teams returner. Where he goes from there remains to be seen. He flashed high-end, dual-threat traits in college, but ceded snaps to the reliable rusher, RB Kaytron Allen. Singleton’s boom-bust style has its strengths and weaknesses.

The top running back recruit of the 2022 class, Singleton (6’/219) burst onto the scene as a true freshman with 1,061 yards at a staggering 6.8 yards per carry. He split work with fellow newcomer Kayton Allen and that would never change during his four years at Penn State. Though his role on the ground never improved much, Singleton exploded as a receiver in his sophomore and junior seasons. He caught 26 passes for 308 yards and two scores in 2023 and jumped to 41 grabs for 375 yards with five touchdowns in 2024. Penn State’s entire football program fell apart in Singleton’s final season and he was held to just 549 yards on the ground and 219 through the air. Singleton has the top gear you would expect from someone with over 1,100 career kick return yards, but he goes down on first contact rather easily. He’s a straight-line runner whose calling card in the NFL will be his speed and pass-catching prowess. At his size, that’s an interesting skill set to have.

Singleton broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot at the Senior Bowl, which required surgery and prevented him from participating in pre-draft workouts. Per Schefter, Singleton “projects to be a mid-round pick next week.” Hopefully for Singleton’s sake and fantasy purposes, that means Round 3 rather than Rounds 4 or 5. He is an explosive dual-threat player with good size, though analysts typically knock his vision.

“Shoot, Pollard dropped over 100 on us (last season) so I think he’s pretty good ... Spears has tremendous versatility as a three-down back and they both play with a physical mindset. … I’m a believer in our backfield and I think it’s a group that can help our team,” Saleh continued before saying it was one of the better running back rooms in football. We’ve seen plenty of Jeremiyah Love hype for the Titans this offseason, and perhaps this is just a smoke screen, but Saleh appears to be throwing some cold water on the idea. If Pollard can get out of the draft without another high-end back addition, he’ll be a fine Zero-RB stab again in 2026.

Per Klis, Arkansas RB Mike Washington Jr., Washington RB Jonah Coleman, Kentucky RB Seth McGowan, Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson, Penn State RB Nicholas Singleton and Texas A&M RB Le’Veon Moss are among the “possibilities” at running back. Klis is not declaring that a running back will be the pick. Reports on the Broncos’ backfield simply remain somewhat in flux. The team re-signed veteran RB J.K. Dobbins to a two-year, $20 million contract this offseason and it remains to be seen whether last year’s 60th overall pick, RB RJ Harvey, is a real candidate to be the team’s long-term starter. For now, Dobbins appears to be slated for Week 1 starting duties, but Harvey or a rookie could challenge him for the role.

The Titans, who have the fourth pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, could be in the running for Love, who impressed at last week’s Scouting Combine. “Anytime you can get a running back like that, especially a three-down running back, that can play in the pass game as well and be able to take over a game, you’ve seen guys in the league now that can do that,” Borgonzi said when being asked about taking a running back in the top five. Titans head coach stressed the importance of a good run game in taking pressure off of second-year QB Cam Ward following Ward’s massive rookie year struggles. The Titans could save around $7 million in cap space if they release Tony Pollard, 29, with a post-June 1 designation. If he lands in Tennessee, Love would likely be the centerpiece of Brian Daboll’s offense, relegating Tyjae Spears to breather back status.

Spears “added” one catch for a loss of one yard. He was the recipient of a heroic throw by Cam Ward late in the fourth quarter, but it was ruled that Ward’s knee hit the ground before he got the pass off. Spears took a backseat to Tony Pollard in this game. Pollard touched the ball 20 times and totaled 95 yards. Coming off a 100-yard outing in Week 16, this goes down as a bust for Spears. He will shuffle back into the RB4 ranks for Week 18.