After spending the primary 5 years of his profession in Dallas with the Cowboys, working again Tony Pollard signed with the Tennessee Titans throughout the offseason. Pollard spent his first few years enjoying behind Ezekiel Elliott and at last acquired his alternative to be the point of interest in Dallas’ backfield in 2023.
The Cowboys got here away from the season believing he wasn’t meant to be a workhorse RB. Pollard didn’t have a nasty season, however he couldn’t construct on what he’d completed beforehand.
In 2022, Pollard was a Professional Bowl choice for the primary time though he was nonetheless splitting time with Elliott. That season Pollard rushed 1,007 yards on 252 carries and began simply 4 video games.
Final season because the full-time undisputed RB1, Pollard rushed for 1,005 yards on 252 carries. He additionally scored three fewer touchdowns than in his Professional Bowl marketing campaign the earlier yr. This led to the Cowboys concluding that Pollard wasn’t constructed to be the person by himself.
Dallas reportedly fought for Pollard’s companies in free company though they weren’t keen to supply as a lot cash. That signifies the Cowboys weren’t as critical about retaining Pollard as they’d such as you to assume.
Now Pollard is with the Titans within the AFC South. In fact, he’d like to show everybody flawed, but it surely appears to be like like Pollard can be proper again in a tandem backfield splitting carries like most of his tenure in Dallas.
“We’ll use these guys a lot all throughout the formation, within the cross recreation and within the run recreation,” Titans head coach Brian Callahan explained. “They’re enjoyable instruments to have as a result of they will achieve this many various issues. The largest key’s simply ensuring that you simply get them the run, particularly early within the recreation.”
Whereas Pollard is coming off back-to-back 1,000 dashing campaigns, that milestone isn’t held in as excessive regard because it as soon as was across the NFL. These days it seems like if a RB isn’t approaching 1,100 or extra yards per season you barely hear about them.
Pollard completed twelfth in dashing yards final season and sixteenth the yr prior. Even with the place being as devalued because it has, if Pollard desires to method that higher echelon, he’ll need to crack the highest 10 at least.
This season represents a brand new starting for Pollard and an opportunity to point out people he’s acquired what it takes. Though it appears to be like like he’ll break up time, Pollard’s counterpart within the Titans backfield, Tyjae Spears is a 2023 third-round select of Tulane.
Spears confirmed promise in his rookie yr dashing for 4.5 yards per carry, however with Pollard being the veteran again, you’d anticipate Tennessee to lean on his expertise a bit extra closely.
