Tony

Pollard

Although he wasn’t targeted in the passing game, Pollard’s 161 yards on the ground were a new career high by 30. He had touchdowns of 65 and 32 yards to thank, with the 65-yarder featuring all manner of slipped tackles and mild field reversals. For the 32-yarder, he was barely touched after finding the seam. It is not an exaggeration to say Pollard provided the difference in what went down as only the second Titans victory of the season. Cam Ward completed just 14 throws for 117 yards, while Tyjae Spears was limited to 10 touches for 47 scoreless yards. Where this has been all year is anyone’s guess, but Ward’s scattershot passing means it will be unlikely to return for Week 15 against the 49ers. Pollard did at least go a long way toward shoring up his FLEX standing with bye weeks officially over and the fantasy playoffs finally here.

In a blowout loss, Pollard saw one less snap than Tyjae Spears, though he still saw two more touches than Spears. Pollard began the game with three carries for 36 yards, picking up three first downs on the Titans’ opening drive. However, the Titans went down quickly and the run game was abandoned. To rub more salt into the wound, Pollard fumbled on a garbage time possession late in the fourth quarter. Volume in his lead back role keeps Pollard in the fantasy RB3 range for Week 14 against the Browns.

15 touches for 41 yards isn’t a great day in the backfield, though Pollard did out-touch Tyjae Spears 15-7. Spears mustered 25 yards, with only four of them coming on the ground. Pollard is proving more resilient as the Titans’ lead back than we expected following Spears’ Week 5 return, though it is predictably amounting to nothing in this disastrous offensive environment. With all 32 teams active for Week 13, Pollard will be an uninspiring FLEX against the Jaguars.

It was established, though. Pollard added three catches for four yards on his only three targets. He narrowly was outsnapped by Tyjae Spears, 32-28, on the early data. Spears looks shiftier in the open field and the Titans offense is so bad that Pollard hasn’t scored since Week 5, ruining his volume appeal. Pollard is borderline-droppable in shallow leagues and would be a dire FLEX start into Seattle’s defense in Week 12.

With the game surprisingly tight, Pollard played to a standstill with Tyjae Spears, narrowly winning the snaps battle but out-touching his backfield mate just 11-10. He did out-gain him 68-62. Spears’ return from injured reserve has coincided with a loss of RB2 value for Pollard but only limited FLEX relevance for Spears. It’s just not a good fantasy mix right now. That will very much include Week 11 against the Texans’ elite defense when the Titans come off bye.

He practiced in full on both Thursday and Friday and should be good to go for the reeling Titans. Fantasy managers should treat Pollard as a low-end FLEX play given Tyjae Spears’ inroads into the running back platoon and the Chargers being favored by nearly 10 points on Sunday. There may not be much room — or much running in general — for more than a 40 total yard performance for Pollard.

Pollard should be active for the Titans’ Week 9 game against the Chargers, though No. 2 RB Tyjae Spears could end up out-touching him anyway. Spears has played more efficiently than Pollard as of late, and the 28-year-old veteran is still technically nursing some sort of neck issue. Pollard is just a shaky RB3 here.

A limited session is usually nothing to worry about for a veteran. Barring a setback, Pollard should be good to go for Week 9 against the Chargers. Pollard out-carried Tyjae Spears 11-9 last week, but Spears was far more efficient. Spears ran for 59 yards and a touchdown compared to Pollard’s 44 scoreless yards. With the Titans struggling to get anything going on offense, Pollard is barely in the RB3 ranks for his Week 9 matchup versus the Chargers.

Pollard got the first attempts for the Titans but was outplayed by Tyjae Spears, who seems to have more game-breaking ability than Pollard. Pollard ran hard, but he doesn’t seem to be able to make many defenders miss, and he’s simply not the weapon in the passing game that Spears is. It’s looking like Spears is beginning to take more work away from Pollard, and, in shallower formats, it’s OK to look elsewhere on the waiver wire.

Once again splitting snaps with Tyjae Spears, Pollad did win the touches battle 12-9. He out-gained Spears 61-40. It’s worth noting four of Pollard’s receptions came on the Titans’ meaningless final drive. This wasn’t exactly a triumph. No longer RB2 viable with Spears hollowing out his workloads, Pollard is suddenly struggling even for FLEX status. Week 8 in Indy does not project as Pollard-friendly game script.