The Titans travel to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars in Week 17, but they will be without Tony Pollard (ankle, illness)go Tyjae Spears ($5,400) in a great spot for DFS and season-long fantasy championships. Spears is in a slam-dunk situation against the Jags, and if he gets all the work in, he could be the key to victory this week.

Here’s the latest news on Pollard via ESPN’s Adam Schefter:

The Titans have downgraded RB Tony Pollard (ankle, illness), ruling him out for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 28, 2024

Tyjae Spears’ high ceiling

Over the last two weeks, Spears exploded for 27.2 and 21.6 fantasy points against the Bengals and Colts, respectively. After scoring just one touchdown through the first 14 weeks of the season, Spears had two touchdowns in each of those games.

In Week 15, he did most of his damage as a receiver out of the backfield, catching six passes for 87 yards and a touchdown and adding a second score on the ground with four runs for five yards.

In Week 16, both touchdowns came on the ground while he completed 10 carries for 27 yards. Last week he caught 3 of 4 targets for an additional 39 yards.

What’s impressive about Spears’ performance is that he played barely half of the team’s snaps. In Week 15 he played 39 snaps while Pollard played 31, and in Week 16 he played 37 while Pollard played 24. No other running back played offensive snaps, so if Pollard is out, Spears could get a much heavier workload.

Julius Chestnut ($4,000) would probably take a few snaps if Pollard is out, but Spears would get the lion’s share of the work.

The matchup

The Jaguars have allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season, surrendering 19 running back touchdowns in 15 games and allowing an average of 99.3 rushing yards and 45.3 receiving yards.

Spears’ yards per carry have not been impressive this season, but he has proven he can get into the end zone, and with more early-down work available to him, he will be featured in Week 17 contests such as The NFL Fantasy Football Millionaire Worth $2.25M ($1M to 1st Place).

The conclusion

Spears and the Titans are One-point street favoritesand he has -110 chance of scoring a touchdown. If Pollard is out, Spears will be a strong RB2 player in season-long leagues and an elite DFS option.

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