Keep Tabs on Titans’ Tyjae Spears | Should You Add Spears Now
The waiver wire heading into week 5 of the NFL season was a bit lacking. Instead of having several obvious targets, fantasy owners had to do a little extra digging this week.
One name that caught my eye this week was Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears. He had an Expected Waiver Interest (ETI) of 14% according to our predictive adds chart, which can be located under the Fantasy Assistant tool.
Let’s take a deeper look into Spears and see if you possibly should be adding him now instead of waiting until he’s one of the “must adds” on the waiver wire.
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Tyjae Spears Fantasy Outlook
Spears was the third-round pick of Tennessee in the 2023 NFL Draft. Spears was looked to as a backup for Derrick Henry, but also the potential starter of the future if Spears showed he could be the guy.
Henry is off to a solid start this season, gaining 285 yards and scoring two touchdowns on 73 rushing attempts. He’s added six receptions on eight targets for an additional 82 yards. Henry has played 133 snaps.
Spears has played a bit bigger role than I anticipated, with 120 snaps to his name already. He played more snaps than Henry in weeks 1 (34-30) and 3 (27-18). Spears doesn’t have nearly the workload as Henry though, with just 30 touches.
The rookie back has made the most of his limited chances, with 122 rushing yards on 20 attempts. Spears has caught 10 of the 14 passes thrown his way for 28 yards. The one red zone attempt to Henry’s nine isn’t surprising, but the 6.1-yard average Spears has produced on the ground begs the question: should he be getting more touches?
So far, the Titans have not increased his workload, although maybe they should, as Spears’ two most productive games resulted in wins for Tennessee. He’s played between 53-56% of the team’s offensive snaps in three of four games.
Henry has been the true definition of a workhorse back over the past several seasons, with 200+ carries in each of the last five seasons, and 300+ carries on three occasions. His yards per carry has also dipped over that timeframe as well, and he’s missed a couple games.
It might be in Tennessee’s best interest to start monitoring Henry’s snaps and touches a bit more in an effort to keep him healthy and as effective as possible for a full season. I think now would be the perfect time to implement that strategy, as Spears has proved to be dynamic with the ball in his hands.
Spears is already getting a good amount of snaps, he simply just needs to get several more carries. Coach Mike Vrabel has been impressed with the rookie so far, so I wouldn’t be shocked if Spears starts getting more carries in the near future.
When Should You Add Spears
Our charts show Spears is currently owned in 42% of fantasy leagues, while starting in 4%. He hasn’t produced enough to consider for a spot in your starting lineup, unless you are in a deeper league, but he’s shown enough so far for me to add him to the end of my bench.
If you own Henry and Spears is still available, I’d scoop him up now. Spears not only provides you insurance if Henry goes down with an injury, but if the Titans start utilizing Spears more, you could potentially start them both.
If you are in a deeper league and your running backs have either been injured or have struggled so far, I’d also add Spears now. He gives you a viable starting option should any more players get injured or are on their bye weeks.
As far as typical redraft leagues go, Spears is one breakout game away from being a hot waiver wire commodity. If you have a roster spot available, now is the chance to swipe him up before everyone in the league has a shot at him. There’s better backup running backs probably available right now, but the way things are trending, Spears is looking like one of the better backups for the remainder of the season. I’d add him now and simply wait for the Titans to start using him more before adding him to your starting lineup.
Tennessee’s upcoming schedule includes the Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons. Those are all fairly tough matchups on paper, with the Falcons’ defense being elite against the run so far, the Ravens being a bit better than average and the Colts just a bit below average.
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