Tag: Tyjae Spears

Titans OC Nick Holz gives more clarity on RB situation

Titans OC Nick Holz gave more clarity on how the team will use its running backs in 2024.

The Tennessee Titans made what amounted to at least a somewhat surprising move in free agency when they inked running back Tony Pollard to a three-year deal, which was one of their first reported moves.

It was surprising, not only because of the money they spent on the position ($7-plus million annually), but also because the Titans were expected to bring someone in who offered something a bit different than 2023 third-round pick, Tyjae Spears, who is very similar to Pollard.

Whatever the case may be, the question now becomes: will anyone take the reins of this backfield, or will it be a true split?

Head coach Brian Callahan failed to answer that question during the annual league meetings last month, but offensive coordinator Nick Holz gave more clarity during his first press conference of the offseason program on Wednesday.

“We see it 1A, 1B, and they’re both just gonna play a ton, get a lot of carries and let ’em roll,” Holz said, per Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com.

The good thing about having two similar backs is the Titans won’t be tipping their hand because of who is on the field, which was an issue during the Derrick Henry era.

Holz mentioned how Pollard and Spears are interchangeable and how both can operate on all three downs.

“Everyone keeps saying interchangeable, and we see it that way,” Holz said. “We don’t want any tendencies when those guys are in there. So, we think they both can have a skill set as pass catchers, skill set running the gap schemes and all the different zone schemes we are going to have. So, that’s where it is really most exciting as we go, you are not going to say ‘when this back is in these are the plays, and when this back is in those are the plays.’ They can really function on all three downs, and really, there are not any scheme limitations.”

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Titans’ Brian Callahan on RB roles: ‘We’ll find out’

Titans head coach Brian Callahan is unsure of how the workload will be distributed in the team’s 2024 backfield.

For the first time since 2016, the Tennessee Titans will be without Derrick Henry in their backfield. The 30-year-old signed a two-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Titans were quick to sign running back Tony Pollard to a three-year contract after he had spent his first five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, and the signing officially signaled the end of the Henry era in Nashville.

Tennessee has long been a franchise that has leaned on its running game. Without Henry as the presumed lead back, there are undoubtedly questions surrounding the running backs room and how the touches will be shared.

Along with Pollard, the Titans will work in Tyjae Spears. The former third-round pick orchestrated a solid rookie season considering the circumstances, accounting for 453 rushing yards on 100 carries. Spears was heavily utilized in the passing game, as well, collecting 385 yards on 52 catches.

Going into the 2024 season, the running back competition between Pollard and Spears will be one of the more interesting storylines. How can the two co-exist? Could competition bring out the best in both players?

“We’ll find out,” Titans head coach Brian Callahan said of the backs, via Jim Wyatt. “As I see them right now, they are both pretty interchangeable. But I do think there will be some definition of role as we get going, and we put the pads on and start playing, those guys will probably separate themselves in some role or another that they’ll sort of sink their teeth into. But as of right now, I see them pretty interchangeable. We’ll find out more as we go.”

In addition to Pollard and Spears, the Titans have Hassan Haskins and Julius Chestnut looking to carve out roles.

Haskins, drafted in the fourth round in 2022, rushed for 93 yards on 25 carries in his rookie campaign. However, he missed all of last season after suffering an injury in training camp.

As a result, Chestnut, who had a tremendous preseason showing, made the initial roster and played mostly on special teams before suffering a season-ending injury.

It’s fair to expect both guys to be hungry to prove themselves in 2024, especially with uncertainty about how the Titans plan to integrate their running backs.

However, given his contract and his emergence in the league over the last two seasons, Pollard figures to receive the lion’s share of the carries in 2024.

The former Memphis Tiger developed in a similar role to Henry when he came up with the Cowboys. Pollard played behind Ezekiel Elliott until he outrushed his teammate in 2022, despite seeing fewer carries.

With Dallas moving on from Elliott after the 2022 season, Pollard became the featured back. At 26 years of age, he played in all 17 games and rushed for 1,005 yards on 252 carries. Additionally, Pollard was a threat in the passing game, hauling in 55 catches on 67 targets for 311 yards.

Serving primarily as a backup until last year has helped Pollard become a weapon for the Titans because he still has relatively low miles on him.

Now, Tennessee can unleash their free-agent splash this year.

“I think our best version of Tony is probably coming,” Callahan said of Pollard, who came back from a fractured fibula last season after suffering the injury during the 2022 playoffs. “Tony’s explosiveness, his ability to be productive in the passing game, he has real receiver skills, and then be able to pass protect — he sort of has all three things you look for in a running back. (He’s) a very three-down player, and one we can pair up with Tyjae Spears and I think have a pretty formidable 1-2 punch.”

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Calvin Ridley could be the No. 1 receiver the Tennessee Titans desperately need

The Tennessee Titans were in desperate need of a No. 1 receiver, and they got one after giving Calvin Ridley a massive new contract.

All we knew before the Tennessee Titans knocked down the door and signed former Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley to a four-year, $92 million deal with $50 million fully guaranteed was that the Jaguars and the New England Patriots were in the mix. But the Titans were in need of a top receiver, they had the space to make the deal, and by the way, Ridley tore Tennessee’s defense to shreds in two games last season — he caught 13 passes on 19 targets for 208 yards and three touchdowns.

2023 was a comeback year for Ridley — selected with the 26th overall pick out of Alabama by the Falcons in the 2028 draft, Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season after running afoul of the NFL’s nebulous policies against gambling. Atlanta traded him to the Jaguars on November 1, 2022.

Why Calvin Ridley’s year-long gambling suspension is a hypocritical farce

Last season, Ridley caught 76 passes in 132 targets for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns. The Titans needed a receiver of his caliber, and while some may see it as an overpay, general manager Ran Carthon and new head coach Brian Callahan obviously disagree with that

Titans’ Tyjae Spears led NFL in 3rd/4th-and-short conversion rate

Titans RB Tyjae Spears was elite at converting 3rd- and 4th-and-short situations in 2023.

After a solid rookie season, Tennessee Titans 2023 third-round pick and running back, Tyjae Spears, is set to take on a bigger role in the team’s offense, even if fellow back Derrick Henry returns.

Spears tallied 453 rushing yards in 2023, the fifth-most among rookie backs. His 838 scrimmage yards also ranked fourth among first-year players at his position.

With Spears taking on a bigger role, he will inevitably be called into action to pick up first downs in short-yardage situations, but luckily for the Titans, he thrived in that area last season.

According to NFL analyst Warren Sharp, Spears was tied for the league lead in conversion rate on 3rd- and 4th-and-short situations (one to two yards) among backs with at least 100 rushing attempts (90% success rate).

His backfield mate, Henry, wasn’t far behind, with a success rate of 83 percent, the fourth-highest in the league.

While the Titans have things figured out atop the depth chart, they have to bring in a second back that complements Spears.

Henry would, of course, fill that role wonderfully, but it remains to be seen if he’ll even be back in Nashville in 2024. I continue to believe Henry will be donning a different uniform for the first time in his career.

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Titans’ offensive ‘building blocks’ ranked among worst in NFL

Bleacher Report recently ranked the Titans’ group of offensive building blocks among the worst in the NFL.

In a recent article ranking the offensive “building blocks” for each team in the NFL, the Tennessee Titans landed near the bottom of the list.

Per Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon, Tennessee’s offensive “building blocks” (defined as developing players at or under 25) were ranked No. 28.

Gagnon mentions quarterback Will Levis and left guard Peter Skoronski, but there is one glaring omissions from his write-up: running back Tyjae Spears.

28. Tennessee Titans: The focus here has to be on 24-year-old quarterback Will Levis, but there’s almost nobody else worth mentioning as they wait to see what 2023 first-round offensive tackle Peter Skoronski (22) has to offer.

Spears was sensational for the Titans in 2023, with the explosive young back tallying the fifth-most rushing yards and fourth-most scrimmage yards among first-year players at his position.

Adding to that, Spears was one of three backs in the NFL to post a PFF grade of 70 or better in rushing, receiving and pass-blocking, with the other two being Derrick Henry and Atlanta Falcons back, Tyler Allgeier. He also finished with the 18th-best overall grade at the position.

Making all that production even more impressive is the fact that the Titans had one of the worst offensive lines in the sport in 2023.

Spears, Levis and Skoronski all have more to prove, but there’s no question each has a positive trajectory going into 2024, which should leave the Titans higher on this list.

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2 Titans RBs ranked top 20 in PFF grade in 2023

Titans RBs Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears both landed in the top 20 in PFF grade at their position in 2023.

While the Tennessee Titans had no shortage of issues on the offensive side of the ball in 2023, their running backs had solid seasons despite the mess that was the offensive line in front of them.

Derrick Henry finished the campaign with 1,167 yards and 12 scores, ranking second and tied for seventh among running backs. Rookie Tyjae Spears tallied the fifth-most rushing yards (453) and fourth-most yards from scrimmage (838) among rookie backs.

Thanks to their impressive seasons, both Spears and Henry landed in the top 20 among backs in terms of Pro Football Focus grade, according to PFF’s Gordon McGuinness.

Henry finished with the third-highest grade (90.2) while Spears had the 18th-highest (76.8). Only one other rookie back had a higher mark than Spears, which was Miami Dolphins rookie back De’Von Achane, who finished with a league-best 92.1.

Henry’s grade was only topped by Achane and San Francisco 49ers star running back, Christian McCaffrey.

Henry and Spears were also part of an exclusive group of backs to total PFF grades north of 70 in rushing, receiving and pass-blocking, with Atlanta Falcons back Tyler Allgeier being the only other one to do so.

There’s no question Spears and Henry are a perfect complement to one another, but only Spears is locked into Tennessee for next season, as Henry is set to hit the open market.

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Titans RBs were part of exclusive group in 2023

Titans RBs Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears did something only one other back in the NFL did in 2023.

One of the bright spots on offense for the Tennessee Titans in 2023 was their running backs group, which was led by Derrick Henry and rookie Tyjae Spears.

Henry finished second and seventh in rushing yards and touchdowns, respectively, and Spears had the fifth-most rushing yards and fourth-most scrimmage yards among rookie backs in the league.

But both Henry and Spears did something only one other running back in the NFL did, also, with the pair tallying grades of 70 or better in rushing, receiving and pass-blocking, per Ian Hartitz of Fantasy Life.

The only other back to hit that mark in all three categories with a minimum of 100 carries was Atlanta Falcons running back, Tyler Allgeier.

While Spears is expected to have a more prominent role after an impressive rookie campaign, Henry’s future is far less clear, as the veteran back is set to hit free agency and there is a very real possibility he doesn’t come back.

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Titans’ 2023 draft class ranked top 10 by CBS Sports

The Titans’ 2023 draft class was ranked as a top-10 group after a solid first season.

The Tennessee Titans had a rough season that ended with a 6-11 record and no playoffs, but the team did get some encouraging performances from its 2023 draft picks.

Tennessee’s first three picks in last year’s draft, left guard Peter Skoronski, quarterback Will Levis and running back Tyjae Spears, all made an impact, which was a far cry from some recent draft classes.

As a result of their performances, CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso ranked the Titans’ most recent draft class as the 10th-best in the NFL during the 2023 campaign.

Trapasso named Skoronski, Spears and Levis as the Year 1 hits from the group.

Skoronski lived up to the expectations as a reliable interior blocker making the switch from tackle to guard in the NFL. Levis’ flashes were outstanding just few and far between and Spears proved to be the running back of the future as a versatile, elusive weapon out of the backfield. 

Skoronski had his growing pains, especially after having to overcome an appendectomy, but he was solid overall and finished the season strong. He’s the only O-line starter from 2023 who is locked into a starting job in 2024.

Because of the importance of his position, Levis has ignited excitement for the future of the franchise after showing he’s capable of making all of the throws.

He’s definitely got work to do to take that next step, but some of his issues can be attributed to the lackluster situation around him with a terrible O-line and a receiving corps. that struggled to get open. We’ll have a much better idea of where he stands once those issues are shored up.

Last but not least, Spears was the most consistent of the trio and has the goods to be an electric playmaker. He also checked the pass protection box, which is important for him in order to see third-down snaps. Spears should lead Tennessee’s backfield in 2024.

Tennessee didn’t get much out of their last three picks, but two of them did play sparingly, making it tough to properly evaluate, so there is hope for them yet.

Offensive tackle Jaelyn Duncan got the most run and struggled but was also thrown into a role he wasn’t ready for. Tight end Josh Whyle showed some flashes as a pass-catcher and blocker but didn’t get much playing time, and Colton Dowell only saw 51 snaps on offense, with the majority of his playing time coming on special teams. He also suffered a season-ending injury.

The Titans are facing a rebuild this offseason but have a great foundation to get going with Skoronski, Levis and Spears in the mix.

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Titans’ Tyjae Spears wants number change but won’t take Derrick Henry’s

If you were thinking about buying a Tyjae Spears jersey, you may want to hold off.

If you were thinking about buying a Tyjae Spears jersey anytime soon, you may want to hold off on that after the Tennessee Titans running back stated he wants to change his number.

Spears wore No. 22 in college before rocking No. 32 in the pros and says that is ideally the number he’d like to use. And, it may become available this year with fellow running back Derrick Henry possibly leaving Nashville.

However, even if Henry leaves, Spears said he doesn’t plan on taking that number out of respect for one of the greatest players in franchise history.

“Man, (No. 22 is) my favorite number. I want to so bad, I can’t do it, though,” he told Sam Phalen of AtoZ Sports Nashville. “Just out of respect for Derrick (Henry). I know all the things that he did. He made that number what it is in Tennessee. I’ll have to wait a few years before I get in it.”

So, if he does change his number, what might he go with?

Spears didn’t say a specifically, but he did reveal he’s thinking about going to a single-digit number, which he joked will help him run faster.

“I might change it though, I’m a big fan of 22, I’m going to go to a single-digit,” Spears said. “I don’t what it is. I might change it. Like you said, I’m not going to make predictions for the future, but in my best interest, I want to change it.”

“I need a fast number man, yeah. Then I’m gonna run faster when I get a fast number.”

One possible route Spears can go that will achieve his desire to wear a single digit but still pay homage to his college number is to don the No. 2, but that will only be possible if the Titans don’t re-sign linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who wore the number during his first season in Nashville.

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Titans 2024 offseason preview at RB: Pending free agents, biggest needs

Our latest 2024 offseason preview for the Titans covers the running back position.

The Tennessee Titans had all sorts of issues with their offensive line in 2023, but despite that the team’s running backs still managed to have productive seasons.

Derrick Henry finished with 1,167 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking second and tied for seventh, respectively, in the NFL. His backfield mate, rookie Tyjae Spears, tallied 838 yards from scrimmage and 435 rushing yards, ranking fourth and fifth among first-year backs, respectively.

While Henry and Spears proved to be a potent combo — and one can only imagine how much more potent they could’ve been with a better offensive line — the Titans are unlikely to keep them together.

We’ll cover why that is and much more in our 2024 offseason preview for the running back position.