The third-year back is mostly a special teamer, but managed to see some time on offense as the Titans didn't bother rostering a real backup for Tyjae Spears. He finishes the year with a 22/102 rushing line and two catches for 11 yards. Chestnut will be a restricted free agent this offseason, but we're tentatively expecting him back in Tennessee pending what happens upstairs after the Titans completed their quest for the No. 1 overall pick by finishing 3-14. He's a fantasy non-factor.
Staked to a passing game that was going nowhere, Pollard didn't have much of a chance to make positive prowess. The Titans did feed him to try to get him to his yardage and touchdown incentives, and Pollard played 45 of 60 snaps, but they didn't get anywhere on the Texans tough run defense. Pollard enters year two of his three-year contract with the Titans as the likely No. 1 back after staving off Tyjae Spears most of the season. The veteran back managed a 260/1069/5 rushing line. The Titans don't have a compelling reason to move on from Pollard at this point, but he's more of a band-aid than a fixture.
He looks likely to get a big workload with Tyjae Spears (concussion) out and has touchdown and yardage-based incentives that could lead the Titans to feed him the ball. Inactive for the Titans are S Amani Hooker, Spears, K Nick Folk, WR Jha'Quan Jackson, OLB Arden Key, RT Jaelyn Duncan, and WR Tyler Boyd. All of those players asides from Jackson was ruled out by injury on Friday.
As Schefter notes, Pollard needs 83 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to reach $450K in incentives from his contract. Facing a Texans team that is likely to pull their starters early, Pollard should be able to get the yardage total and at least one score. Pollard will see plenty of work with Tyjae Spears sidelined for the final game of the year, putting him at the top of the WR2 ranks for Week 18.
Titans RB Tony Pollard is expected to play Sunday against the Texans, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Pollard is officially questionable and missed the week's final practice. He should easily lead the backfield with Tyjae Spears (concussion) out, but his lingering ankle issue adds some risk. Julius Chestnut sits next in line for touches.