With Derrick Henry no longer in Nashville, the Tennessee Titans will have a new duo at running back in 2024, with 2023 third-round pick Tyjae Spears and free-agent acquisition Tony Pollard.
The explosive Spears showed plenty of flashes during his first season, including his big-play ability, but there’s no question both Titans backs were hindered by an offensive line that couldn’t do anything well.
Looking ahead to 2024, Spears is being pegged as a potential breakout player for the Titans by Pro Football Network’s Tony Catalina.
The Titans saw the departure of Derrick Henry, only to welcome the addition of Tony Pollard. However, despite the presence of Pollard in the backfield, the dynamic has changed and more players will get opportunities in the Titans’ backfield in 2024. With his speed and shifty ability, Spears should be a complement to Pollard.
Despite seeing the same amount of snaps as Henry in 2023, Spears only logged 152 touches to Henry’s 308. With Pollard now in the mix, that figures to even out, which in and of itself will help Spears have a breakout campaign.
Adding to that, Spears and Pollard will be running behind a much better situation than Henry and Spears did, as the Titans have beefed up their offensive line considerably with the additions of Lloyd Cushenberry and JC Latham.
While Spears is no doubt a good pick to have a breakout campaign, I’d pick quarterback Will Levis over him. Levis was also held back by a poor offensive line in 2023, also, but he also had a lackluster wide receiver group that made things more difficult.
With the Titans making significant additions to both of those position groups, and with the offense being more pass-heavy under head coach Brian Callahan, Levis is primed to take a bigger step forward in 2024.
