Titans' Running Back Report: Committee Approach, RB3 Battle Heats Up


NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 10 touches that went to first-team running backs Saturday evening came with no hints and no tells about preferences or favorability for Tony Pollard or Tyjae Spears. This was right in line with everything the Titans have told us about their new look-back field. 

Pollard started but Spears was in for the second snap.

Tony Pollard
  Tony Pollard/ Angie Flatt

Pollard wound up with six touches and Spears with four, with Pollard having a much more effective evening with 35 yards on four carries and 11 more on two catches. Spears got only 2 yards on three carries, but managed a 4-yard TD and had a 2-yard catch.

With Brian Callahan calling plays, he doesn’t always have time to deal with personnel during the game.

Players are linked to plays. So as position coaches relay calls, their guys know who’s supposed to be on the field. That all worked smoothly the first time, which is not always the case around the league.

“They are tagged, especially in the preseason, this early part,” Callahan said. “We knew we were only going to get a handful of plays. So, I was very intentional about tagging them on the plays I wanted to get them in on. So, they rotated pretty clean, and they knew what plays they were going to be in for in that first set of plays. So, that was intentional. It'll be some version of that in the regular season as well. Just making sure that we put them on the plays that they feel great about.

“I'm not going to say it's going to rotate every other play or anything like that. It kind of felt like that early on. But yeah, we'll tag those guys on most plays when we want those guys in the game. And we'll be more intentional too, about where we put the other receivers as well. We're going to have five to six guys up on game day and those guys all have roles. They'll have plenty of different places. We'll tag those guys too. So, that process is usually done during the course of the week and on game day, it’s pretty well settled.”

But Callahan will be thinking ahead.

While a specific running back or receiver may be tagged on the call sheet, as the offensive coordinator Callahan will also be looking ahead and tipping position coaches about what's coming.

"Usually, I'll do my best to give them a heads-up after I've called that first play. I'll say, 'Hey, for first and second down here, I'm going right to this one,'" he said. "So they kind of have a preview. I'm always trying to think ahead as well. But generally speaking, I try to give them a heads-up.

"Occasionally, every now and again, I might call a play and I'll just tell Randy (Jordan), 'Hey, give me Tony on this one,’ or ‘Give me Tyjae on this one,' or I'll tell Tyke (Tolbert), 'I need Treylon (Burks) on this one. I need Nick Westbrook(-Ikhine).' They'll know in the moment, they're always paying attention for that stuff."

The fight for the third running back job is a big one between Hassan Haskins and Julius Chestnut.

The Titans used them in a similar way to Pollard and Spears, mixing them rather than giving them series to handle the bulk of the work.

Callahan came out of the game saying the things about the two backs that fit with the reputations that they carried in.

“I think Hassan played really, really well in special teams, I think Julius (Chestnut) was solid,” he said. “I thought Julius had a better day on the ground, carrying the ball and in the passing game. But that's a job that’s being competed for. I think that they're both bigger backs, they're strong, they're physical. So that role is an important one. It's an important one for special teams, and I think that's a battle you're going to continue to see over the next two and a half, three weeks.”

I don’t see the team giving many carries to a third running back, so I’d lean Haskins because of the value added on special teams where he can be quite good -- and I am not generally a special teams guy. Chestnut would very likely make it to the practice squad and be ready if Pollard or Spears gets hurt.

“Every year,” Callahan said. “That's a very traditional, standard roster decision every year.”

Four running backs are a possibility as the Titans measure the last man at the position versus the last man at several others, but the fourth would be inactive on game days.

“I feel like I’ve been adjusting real well to all the new coaches, new schemes and stuff like that,” Haskins said recently. “I’m going to take every chance I get out here to be the best me.”

Upon replay review, Haskins failed to convert a fourth and-1, stopped on a big hit by rookie Malik Mustapha.

He also spoke recently about how being a tackler on special teams has helped him understand tacklers better as a running back. 

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