Week 11 NFL Moneyline Underdogs
Mike Randle
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The Tennessee Titans are expected to sign Tony Pollard to a three-year deal worth a reported $24 million. That sound you just heard was Tyjae Spears’ fantasy value plummeting. Pollard figures to slide into the No. 1 spot with Derrick Henry expected to sign elsewhere.
Tennessee has been a team in transition over the last three months. Not only is Henry out, but the Titans also fired long-time head coach Mike Vrabel and replaced him with former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan.
Pollard spent his first five NFL seasons in Dallas, playing on the franchise tag last year. Over his first three seasons, he mainly served in a change-of-pace role. He flashed upside, but his volume was limited. That all changed in 2022, when Pollard broke out as the Robin to Ezekiel Elliott’s Batman. Pollard finished that season as fantasy’s No. 9 running back.
That fantasy finish, along with Elliott’s departure, from Dallas positioned Pollard as a top-10 fantasy option in last year’s drafts. Unfortunately, he failed to live up to his draft stock, finishing a disappointing 14th among running backs in fantasy scoring despite ranking sixth in touches (307).
Is the move to Tennessee enough to revitalize Pollard’s value? In short, it’s difficult to envision him returning to the RB1 conversation. He’s almost certainly going to split the workload with Spears. He also gets a major downgrade along the offensive line. To be clear, Pollard does figure to lead the backfield, but we’re looking at him in the flex conversation for 2024 fantasy drafts.
Pollard’s former team has some work to do. In addition to Pollard, Rico Dowdle is expected to test the market as a free agent. That leaves the Cowboys with the undersized Deuce Vaughn, Malik Davis and Snoop Conner on their depth chart. While there are plenty of interesting names in free agency this year, Dallas is just $2.2 million under the cap. That isn’t enough wiggle room to make a splash in free agency, so look for the Cowboys to address the position via the draft.
