Titans beat expects a running back committee?

Pollard had missed two practices with a foot issue he picked up in the Titans’ preseason game against the Niners over the weekend. Pollard went for 22 yards and a touchdown on four carries against San Francisco while Tyjae Spears had 35 yards on four rushes. Spears caught one pass in the game while Pollard was not involved in the pass game. Pollard profiles as a flex option in 12-team leagues, though he could be touchdown dependent with Spears taking on much of the pass-catching role.

Johnson, who functioned primarily as a special teams player last season in New England, had a couple productive years in Cleveland before becoming a journeyman back. Johnson probably won’t factor into the Tennessee backfield unless Tyjae Spears or Tony Pollard go down to injury.

Head coach Robert Saleh said after the team’s practice on Saturday that he was hopeful to have Pollard back on Monday. That didn’t come to fruition, but hopefully this is a short-term thing for Pollard. The veteran running back rushed four times for 22 yards and a touchdown in the team’s preseason outing against the 49ers and is expected to again lead the Titans’ backfield in touches this season.

This is something of an annual drum beat from Titans camp. Spears suffered an ankle injury early last season that limited his reps. We’re sure if he can stay healthy, his overall share of the backfield snaps and touches will increase. But it’s hard to understand how he’d suddenly become the lead back in Tennessee without an injury to Tony Pollard.

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.