Tag: Tony Pollard fantasy football

A closer look at the Tennessee Titans backfield

What should we expect from the Tony Pollard-Tyjae Spears tandem?

From the moment Mike Vrabel was hired to be the head coach of the Tennessee Titans before the 2018 season, you knew you were going to get two things: a physical defense, and a heavy dose of running back Derrick Henry each week. After six years of that, it’s a new day in Nashville. Vrabel was fired after posting a 13-21 record over the last two seasons, and Henry signed with the Baltimore Ravens.

Vrabel’s replacement is Brian Callahan, who was hired after serving as offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals for the last five seasons. In Cincinnati, he oversaw a pass-first offense led by young superstar quarterback Joe Burrow and the receiving tandem of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. While the Titans have upgraded their own receivers room, which now includes DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, and Tyler Boyd, a familiar face from Cincy, the jury is still out on QB Will Levis.

As such, the ground game should be important for the 2024 Titans. With Henry gone, Tennessee gave former Dallas Cowboys RB Tony Pollard a three-year, $21.75 million deal to join promising youngster Tyjae Spears atop the depth chart. Let’s look at what we can expect from them this year.

Memphis product Tony Pollard returns to the state of Tennessee

Pollard joins the Titans, presuming ending the reign of King Henry.

In 2023, Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard replaced Ezekiel Elliott in a short-lived, underwhelming stint as the franchise back. He now replaces Derrick Henry as the face of the Tennessee Titans‘ backfield.

Last year, Pollard produced respectable stats that resulted in an RB14 finish. While that seems like a fine showing on the surface, the expectations coming off Pollard’s strong 2022 campaign makes this placement less palatable. He was less efficient, scored half as many touchdowns, and averaged only the 23rd-most fantasy points among all backs with at least 10 appearances. More work didn’t equate to Pollard keeping up his highly efficient ways of pre-2023 play.

Fantasy football outlook

In Tennessee, Pollard will be tasked with replacing one of the most popular players in franchise history. The Titans are a team in rebuild mode and will have a new starting quarterback and first-year head coach.

Pollard’s versatility helps keep him in the No. 2 conversation for PPR formats. The offensive line needs some help, quarterback Will Levis will endure his growing pains, and the aerial targets leave much to be desired. Unless Levis steps up in a significant way, Pollard may face tremendous defensive attention and replicate another low-efficiency season.

Fantasy football: 2023 NFL free agency roundup

NFL free agency will drastically help reshape the fantasy football landscape as the new league year begins.

Now that NFL free agency is upon us, we’ll run through the fantasy football outlooks for trades, re-signings, midrange players, and tag recipients.

This analysis will be updated as players sign/re-sign in free agency, so be sure to check back regularly.

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Fantasy Football: 7 running backs for last-second drafters to target

These running backs aren’t getting the love they deserve in fantasy football drafts.

Fantasy football managers love sleepers, players who end up outperforming their average draft position (ADP) and return great value during the season.

With limited workhorse running backs in the NFL, it can be especially important to land value picks at RB, a position that gets thin quickly after the early rounds of the draft.

Here’s a quick look at seven sleeper running backs who could provide great depth to your roster and potentially become starter-worthy RBs at some point during the season.

Fantasy football: 5 running back duos worth drafting in 2022

These 10 running backs are part of backfield committees, but they still offer standalone value in fantasy football.

Typically in fantasy football, drafting a workhorse is the best strategy at running back. But fewer and fewer teams are relying on one running back going into the 2022 NFL season.

Beyond the top options of backs, like Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry and Najee Harris, most RBs are part of some kind of backfield rotation. Fortunately, there are many backfield duos with each RB offering some standalone value in fantasy, even if both players stay healthy.

Here’s a look at five running back committees that feature a pair of RBs who are both worth drafting in your fantasy football league.

7 handcuff running backs to target in fantasy football drafts

Seven of the top running back tandems to handcuff in fantasy football drafts.

It’s common for fantasy football players to “double down” on running backs in whom they’ve made a significant investment by adding the backup late in drafts or auctions. The term for this practice is called “handcuffing” – having two running backs from the same team on your roster.

The key to executing a proper handcuff is in direct relation to the investment made in the first of the two running backs. The player almost certainly needs to be an RB1. There are exceptions to the rule – the first back can be an RB2 in the event there is a belief that two backs will share playing time.

The rationale is pretty simple – if the top guy gets injured, the “handcuff guy” can step in and closely replicate the production.

These are the top seven handcuff players you should consider.

Is Ezekiel Elliott still a No. 1 running back in fantasy football?

Just how much does Ezekiel Elliott have left in the tank?

The question of whether Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is a RB1 in fantasy football may come down to how many owners you have in your league.

His decline in production as a runner has led many to question whether Tony Pollard will push Elliott out the door. On the eve of the 2019 opener, the Cowboys and Elliott agreed on a six-year, $90 million contract. As result, he has the highest salary ($12.4 million) and cap hit ($18.2 million) of any running back in the league. In the NFL, that has historically been a problem.

Elliott will have no more guaranteed money on his contract after this season. If he is released or traded before June 1, 2023, the Cowboys would take a cap hit of $11.86 million in dead money. If he was cut or traded after June 1, that number would be split over the remaining years of the deal.

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There is legitimate reason for concern because Elliott’s rushing yards per game during his career have dropped every season – 108.7, 98.3, 95.6, 84.8, 65.3, and 58.9. However, that has been tempered somewhat in that he has become much more of a receiving threat, catching 210 passes over the last four years to provide needed fantasy points.

It took Elliott all 17 games to hit 1,000 rushing yards last year, but it should be noted he suffered a partial right posterior cruciate ligament tear in Week 4. He played through the remainder of the season, including wearing a knee brace in December and January for stability. He was clearly hobbled, but his willingness to play through pain speaks volumes when it comes to organizational loyalty.

Elliott turns 27 in July, so there is still plenty left in the tank, and he will need to regain his former standing as a player who can go off for 100 yards at any time — and do it often. With the trade of wide receiver Amari Cooper, passing game took a backward step, which may get Mike McCarthy and his staff looking for a more balanced attack that gives plenty of touches to both Elliott and Pollard.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Elliott is playing for his Cowboys life in 2022. Pollard is set to hit free agency at the end of the season, and Dallas will be facing a difficult choice. Potential or the past.

Has Elliott’s dominance come to an end? No.

He’s motivated. He has attacked his offseason program. He’s ready to reclaim his spot as one of the elite running backs in the league and not the guy who had 10 straight games with 52 or fewer rushing yards. He needs to stay healthy. In the first five games of the 2021 season, Elliott rushed for 452 yards – more than 90 yards a game. As he played through his PCL injury, in his final 12 appearances, he rushed for just 550 yards – just 46 yards a contest. However, in 17 games, Elliott had more carries than Pollard in all but one of them, even while clearly playing at less than 100 percent. He’s still the featured back.

Fantasy football takeaway

Elliott will likely be available at the back end of the top 10 running backs, if not beyond, but he is clearly still an RB1 option – just not for someone making an early investment in the position.

The old “what have you done for me lately” perception typically drives a player’s fantasy stock. Even through a down year by his lofty standards, Elliott finished RB7 in PPR scoring in 2021. For the first time his rookie season, Zeke is a value pick, with an ADP generally in Round 3. Selecting Pollard as a handcuff would be a wise decision, however.

Fantasy Football Market Report: Week 16

Risers and fallers of the late-stage fantasy football season

At the start of the 2021 season, I made the bold prediction that I thought all four teams in the NFC West had the potential to finish the season with winning records, which is why I was bullish on drafting fantasy players from the division. Barring the Seattle Seahawks running the table, that isn’t going to happen, but another division has stepped up to live out the big talk I had for the NFC West.

The AFC North has found itself in a situation where all four teams control their own destiny to win the division and make the playoffs in the final three games. All four teams have looked dominant at times and awful at others, but their fantasy players are all filling up playoff lineups. When you’re fighting for a fantasy championship you need to have all your players in games that mean something. It would appear every game the teams from the AFC North play from here on through are going to have playoff implications, which is all fantasy owners can ask for with titles on the line.

Here is the Week 16 Fantasy Football Market Report:

Fantasy Football Risers

RB D’Onta Foreman, Tennessee Titans

When the Titans lost Derrick Henry, the organization’s first idea was to dust off Adrian Peterson. After three weeks, they gave up on that theory and went to Plan B. Foreman was signed in the days after Henry went down and, over the last three games, he has looked a little like the franchise – and played like him as well. In those three games, he has rushed 54 times for 264 yards and a touchdown – topping 100 yards in two of them and scoring a TD in the other. He won’t make fantasy owners forget Henry, but he likely won’t be a journeyman after this season.

WR Russell Gage, Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons have been an offense in transition. Future Hall of Famer Julio Jones was allowed to leave. Calvin Ridley left the team for personal issues. All-World Kyle Pitts has been up and down. The most consistent player over the last month has been Gage. He has help keep the Falcons’ dim playoff hopes alive over the last four games, catching 29 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He has become a go-to flex option and still is affordable in daily play as he makes his case moving forward on a Falcons team in transition.

RB Craig Reynolds, Detroit Lions

You don’t look to Detroit for fantasy players, especially in the playoffs, but Reynolds is making the most of his opportunity. The Lions are his fourth team in three years, and he has been little more than a practice squad live body. But with D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams both down, he has been thrust into the mix against a pair of good defenses (Denver and Arizona). He has responded with 37 carries for 195 yards. Like Foreman and Gage, Reynolds is making his statement to his current team and the rest of the league that he has the skills to be a factor in the NFL.

QB Mac Jones, New England Patriots

The rookie QB hasn’t been flashy and doesn’t bring a lot in the run game, but he has started putting together some solid fantasy numbers. In huge games with playoff implications against the Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts, he has thrown for seven touchdowns and, in the last two of those games, he has 310 and 299 passing yards. They aren’t the kind of numbers that have him in fantasy playoff lineups, but his stock is on the rise heading into 2022.

RB Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys

The time share between Ezekiel Elliott and Pollard is getting less all the time. Pollard has 119 carries to Zeke’s 201, but Pollard’s rushing average (5.7 yards) is 1.4 more than Elliott’s (4.3), and he had a better rushing average in eight of the last nine games both have played. Anyone who has Elliott isn’t going to bench him, but the Cowboys are consistently getting more yardage out of Pollard. As games increase in importance, he may be seeing even time as the Cowboys season gets more intense and impactful with each coming week.

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Fantasy Football Fallers

WR Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys

Few players run as hot and cold as Cooper. Over the last seven games, he has played in five of them and, in those games, he has just 15 catches for 188 yards and one touchdown. An average of three catches for 37 yards over five games (technically seven) isn’t what fantasy owners bought into, and there has to be legitimate concern about continuing to play him with a fantasy season on the line.

QB Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

With all the weapons Burrow has, huge numbers are expected every week. Over his last six games, he has accounted for just eight touchdowns (six passing, two rushing) and has thrown for 190 yards or less in three of his last five games. Considering that he never had fewer than two touchdowns in his first eight games and 20 TD passes in those contests, his drop-off has been pronounced. He isn’t the must-start player he was the first half of the season.

WR Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers

Through his first five games of the season, Williams was averaging 95 yards and scored six touchdowns, making him one of the breakthrough players of the early season. However, in his last nine games, he has more than 61 receiving yards just twice, less than 50 yards in five of them, and has scored just one touchdown. The Chargers offense has been lighting things up, but Williams hasn’t been a part of it enough to warrant staying in fantasy lineups.

TE Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins

It’s been the tale of two seasons for Gesicki. He is among a growing number of fantasy tight ends those of whom without one of the Big 3 are looking to step up and make a statement to be a TE that plays every week. Over his first seven games, Gesicki had three games with 85 or more receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. Over his last seven games, he has fallen flat, registering 54 or fewer receiving yards in every game and scoring no touchdowns. Considering Miami has gone a six-game winning streak in that stretch, it has become apparent that the Dolphins don’t need Gesicki to come up big for them to win.

WR Kenny Golladay, New York Giants

The fact Golladay hasn’t scored a touchdown for the Giants after signing a big free-agent contract is bad enough, but his production has completely flat-lined. In his first four games, he was productive, catching 17 passes for 282 yards. In his last seven games, he has caught just 14 passes for 195 yards and no TDs – an average of just two catches for 28 yards a game, which not only will get you benched on a fantasy team, it will get you waived.