Derrick Henry led the league in carries in four of his last five seasons in Tennessee. He is gone now, and his replacements are likely to split those carries this season.
The Titans return Tyjae Spears, Hassan Haskins and Julius Chestnut. They added the Cowboys’ top running back last season, Tony Pollard, in free agency. Undrafted free agents Dillon Johnson and Jabari Small round out the roster.
Pollard and Spears are expected to carry the load.
“I am really excited to work with them,” Titans running backs coach Randy Jordan said Tuesday, via Jim Wyatt of the team website. “I was in the NFC East, and I got to see Mr. T.P. quite a bit. So, when we had the opportunity to get him, I was really excited. I love his skill set. In fact, I love the skill set of both [Pollard] and [Spears].
“Both guys, you don’t have to worry about in terms of counting touches in terms of handoffs, running the ball, because they can both catch the ball fairly well out of the backfield. So, in that respect, I am not counting touches in terms of rushes. I’m counting, ‘Hey, you got 10 rushes, but you also got six catches, and that’s a total of 16.’ And I think they’re getting a really good feel for each other on and off the field.”
Spears ran for 453 yards and two touchdowns on 100 carries last season as a rookie, while catching 52 passes for 385 yards and a touchdown.
Pollard had a career-high 252 carries last season and ran for 1,005 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught a career-high 55 passes for 311 yards.
Spears and Pollard have spent the offseason working out together and pushing each other.
Now, it’s up to Jordan to figure out how to use them.
