There's a story out with head coach Brian Callahan talking up Tyjae Spears. It's the kind of thing you see a lot this time of year. The question is whether it will amount to anything.
Spears was selected in the third round back in 2023, at least theoretically a candidate to replace Derrick Henry, who was in his final season with the Titans. But instead, Tennessee brought in Tony Pollard, and featured him last season.
Two years into his career, Spears has never had much of a chance to make an impact. He's averaged about 6 carries and just under 3 receptions per game; 26 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards. And Pollard is still around.
Pollard has been pretty ordinary, but ran for 1,079 yards last year while also catching 41 passes. With that kind of usage, pretty unlikely that Callahan's happy talk regarding Spears comes to pass.
But it's encouraging to look at the games the first two seasons when Spears has got a little more work. There aren't a lot, but the production has been respectable in them.
Ten times his first two seasons, Spears has had at least 7 rushing attempts in a game. In those 10 contests, he averages 47 rushing yards and 3 receptions for 23 yards receiving. He's scored 4 touchdowns in those 10 games. That's nearly 13 points per week in PPR leagues.
| SPEARS WITH 7-PLUS CARRIES | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Att | Run | Y/A | No | Rec | TD | Pts |
| 2024 | at Jac. | 20 | 95 | 4.8 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 13.3 |
| 2023 | Ind. | 16 | 75 | 4.7 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 12.8 |
| 2024 | at Mia. | 15 | 39 | 2.6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11.9 |
| 2024 | at Ind. | 10 | 27 | 2.7 | 3 | 39 | 2 | 21.6 |
| 2023 | Hou. | 9 | 30 | 3.3 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 4.7 |
| 2023 | Sea. | 9 | 40 | 4.4 | 5 | 27 | 0 | 11.7 |
| 2023 | LAC | 8 | 49 | 6.1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7.5 |
| 2023 | at Ind. | 7 | 34 | 4.9 | 4 | 35 | 1 | 16.9 |
| 2023 | at Mia. | 7 | 29 | 4.1 | 6 | 89 | 0 | 17.8 |
| 2024 | at LAC | 7 | 47 | 6.7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8.1 |
| Avg. | 10.8 | 46.5 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 22.8 | 0.4 | 12.6 | |
It's the receiving work that he's done the most with. As a rookie he caught 52 passes for 385 yards with a score. If Tennessee gives him that kind of work in the passing game, he'll have some nice PPR games, even if he doesn't get more rushing work.
I don't want to underestimate Pollard. He's played well enough, both in Dallas and Tennessee, to be the guy. For Spears to live up to Callahan's hype, he'll need to either be a really busy pass catcher, or Pollard will need to get hurt.
But I think he's a decent flier. Will come cheaply in drafts, and has some chance of outperforming it, based on what he's done when he gets some work thus far. All he needs is the opportunity.
--Andy Richardson