RB: Tyjae Spears - TEN

The writing was on the wall in week 18. Derrick Henry said goodbye to the Tennessee crowd, and it seemed like he was off to a new team in free agency, meaning Tyjae Spears would end up being the starting running back in Tennessee. Considering he scored two touchdowns in week 18 and was the RB9, fantasy owners definitely got geared up for what Spears could end up doing in 2024.

Enter Tony Pollard. Tyjae Spears' role last season was really limited to the passing game. He only had one week where he had double-digit carries, and in the passing game, he would make an impact here and there, but nothing was ever very consistent. In 2024, it's going to be interesting to see exactly what Tyjae Spears' role is with the Tennessee Titans, considering the fact that Tony Pollard is likely the RB1.

When Tyjae Spears was drafted, concerns over his knee became public. He has no ACL in his knee, and he's definitely got some bone-on-bone issues. Doctors really felt like he had a career length in the NFL of a few years and nothing longer than that. So clearly, Tennessee is investing in Tony Pollard to ensure that he and Tyjae Spears can work together as long as possible. That's probably another reason why Tyjae Spears doesn't take over as the starter anytime soon. In 2024, he's probably limited to a passing game role once again.

As concerned as I am about Tony Pollard's value in 2024, I'm even more concerned about Tyjae Spears. From an efficiency standpoint, he was definitely way better last season than what Tony Pollard was. If he keeps that up in 2024 and Tony Pollard just can't get back to the efficiency we saw when he was younger, there's going to be an opportunity for Spears to take more and more touches.

I think Tyjae Spears ends up being a guy that goes on and off the waiver wire for a majority of the year. People are going to draft him, he may not give you a lot of value early in the season, he gets dropped, he has some good games, he gets picked back up. I'm just saying a lot of inconsistencies could come with Tyjae Spears this season. If you're going to draft him, definitely make it late. He shouldn't be anything more than an RB5/flex option for your team and some depth that maybe you can utilize if there's injuries or other issues.

Anything higher than that, where you feel like you're going to have to rely on Tyjae Spears consistently on a weekly basis, that's where you could end up getting into trouble. I'm cautiously optimistic about this backfield, but there's just a whole lot of concerns I can't get over.