Tony Pollard's Fantasy Draft Outlook After Tyjae Spears Reportedly Put on Titans' IR

All signs point toward Tony Pollard being the Tennessee Titans' unquestioned RB1 for at least the first month of the 2025 NFL season based on news regarding running back Tyjae Spears' health.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that Spears has been placed on injured reserve due to a high ankle sprain, meaning he will have to miss at least the first four games of the season.

There was some thought that Pollard and Spears would be locked into a timeshare, and while that could still end up being the case at some point, Pollard will have virtually no competition for touches until at least Week 5.

Currently, Pollard has an average draft position of 60.2 in Yahoo fantasy football leagues, making him a late sixth-round pick in 10-team leagues and a late fifth-rounder in 12-team leagues.

Pollard's ADP also makes him the 22nd running back off the board on average behind likely timeshare backs such as Breece Hall of the New York Jets, David Montgomery of the Detroit Lions and rookie RJ Harvey of the Denver Broncos.

Despite sharing the Tennessee backfield with Spears for 12 games last season, Pollard was the more productive back from a fantasy perspective, rushing for 1,079 yards and five touchdowns to go along with 41 receptions for 238 yards.

It marked Pollard's third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season, as he also accomplished the feat with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 and 2023.

Of the 16 games Pollard played in last season, four of them came while Spears was out due to injury.

Per Adam Pfeifer of FTN Fantasy, Pollard received an elite-level workload during that stretch with a 46.4 percent touch share and 82 percent of the Titans' non-quarterback rushing attempts:

Over the four games Spears missed, Pollard rushed for 402 yards and one touchdown on 88 carries to go along with 11 catches for 63 yards.

Averaging just over 100 rushing yards per game last season without Spears last season is made even more impressive by the fact that the Titans got poor quarterback play from Will Levis and Mason Rudolph, meaning opponents could key on stopping the run.

That likely won't be the case this season since the Titans improved their passing game with the selection of quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

There should be more touchdown opportunities for Pollard this season as a result, and he figures to get all of the red-zone work while Spears is out.

As of now, the Titans' main backup options at running back are rookie sixth-round pick Kalel Mullings and Julius Chestnut, who has rushed for just 114 yards over three NFL seasons.

That suggests the potential is there for Pollard to be a top-10 or perhaps even a top-five fantasy running back for the first month, meaning it may make sense for his ADP to get pushed up into the 40 range along with the likes of Omarion Hampton of the Los Angeles Chargers, Kenneth Walker III of the Seattle Seahawks and Chuba Hubbard of the Carolina Panthers.