Despite team struggles, Tony Pollard consistently delivers. Will 2026 bring a fantasy football breakout for the Titans' leading rusher?
The Tennessee Titans are heading into a new era after back-to-back 3-14 seasons.
Brian Callahan was fired halfway through the 2025 season after losing to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6. The Titans hired former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their next head coach.
Before the beginning of last season, General Manager Ran Carthon was fired. Owner Amy Adams-Strunk hired former Kansas City Chiefs executive Mike Borgonzi as the Titans' next GM.
Despite having a disappointing season, there's no denying that Tennessee has some exciting young players. Cam Ward is under center, with promising young talents like Chimere Dike, Elic Ayomanor and Gunnar Helm at skill positions.
While all of those players had some exciting moments as rookies, the offense still struggled mightily last season. The Titans had the third-fewest passing yards (190.6), rushing yards (90.6) and points per game (16.7) in the league in 2025.
Although the offense hasn't been very efficient in recent years, one player who has remained consistent is running back Tony Pollard.
Pollard has had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons since joining the Titans in 2024. He was one of the major acquisitions by Carthon, along with Calvin Ridley, Lloyd Cushenberry and L'Jarius Sneed.
Matthew Berry had a few Titans featured in his positional Fantasy Football rankings for 2026. Pollard, Helm, Ridley and Wan'Dale Robinson were the Titans players to make Berry's positional rankings.
Pollard was the No. 26 running back. The top running backs were Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffrey.
Pollard has been reliable for the Titans, and hopefully, the pressure will be taken off him in 2026 after some of the moves the Titans made in free agency. Robinson was the biggest move Tennessee made on offense.
Other significant moves included John Franklin-Myers, Alontae Taylor and Cor'Dale Flott. The Titans have definitely made improvements on both sides of the ball.
The question is whether those acquisitions will result in more wins for the Titans in 2026. The Titans have gone 6-28 since firing former head coach Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season.
After consecutive 3-14 seasons, Tennessee is hoping for a quick turnaround similar to that of the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders. Both finished with a losing record in the last two years and were able to turn into playoff contenders after spending the most money in free agency.
The Titans are hoping that Pollard, along with the young, exciting talents they have on the roster, will lay the groundwork for this fast rebuild.