Tony Pollard: held out of Thursday practice for rest
Oct 22
1 min read
THE FACT. Tennessee listed Pollard as not practicing Thursday under a non-injury rest designation, per the team's own Thursday report and NFL.com. Tyjae Spears returned to practice in full the same day, also under a rest designation, ahead of Sunday's game at home against Cleveland on Oct. 25.
THE VERDICT. Nothing here changes his status. Redraft: start him, and do not read a veteran rest day in the middle of the week as a sign he is hurt. Spears practicing in full keeps Tennessee's two-back setup intact, so expect the workload to be shared rather than handed to one man. DFS: Pollard is in play but the split caps his ceiling, which makes him a touchdown-dependent build against the Browns.
Twenty-plus years of this and I've learned to trust the snap sheet over the depth chart. The two-back framing doesn't match what Tennessee actually did in Indy: Pollard took 19 of the 20 running back carries, played 35 snaps to Spears' 11, and ran 12 routes to Spears' five. Spears finished with two touches. That's a bell cow wearing a committee label. Which is also why I won't treat him as touchdown-dependent in DFS. At the ownership he'll draw at home Sunday, a back getting 19-plus touches is exactly the kind of volume I want.