The Tennessee Titans made what amounted to at least a somewhat surprising move in free agency when they inked running back Tony Pollard to a three-year deal, which was one of their first reported moves.
It was surprising, not only because of the money they spent on the position ($7-plus million annually), but also because the Titans were expected to bring someone in who offered something a bit different than 2023 third-round pick, Tyjae Spears, who is very similar to Pollard.
Whatever the case may be, the question now becomes: will anyone take the reins of this backfield, or will it be a true split?
Head coach Brian Callahan failed to answer that question during the annual league meetings last month, but offensive coordinator Nick Holz gave more clarity during his first press conference of the offseason program on Wednesday.
“We see it 1A, 1B, and they’re both just gonna play a ton, get a lot of carries and let ’em roll,” Holz said, per Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com.
The good thing about having two similar backs is the Titans won’t be tipping their hand because of who is on the field, which was an issue during the Derrick Henry era.
Holz mentioned how Pollard and Spears are interchangeable and how both can operate on all three downs.
“Everyone keeps saying interchangeable, and we see it that way,” Holz said. “We don’t want any tendencies when those guys are in there. So, we think they both can have a skill set as pass catchers, skill set running the gap schemes and all the different zone schemes we are going to have. So, that’s where it is really most exciting as we go, you are not going to say ‘when this back is in these are the plays, and when this back is in those are the plays.’ They can really function on all three downs, and really, there are not any scheme limitations.”
