The Titans aren’t ready to stamp a fixed label on Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears just yet, but Robert Saleh made one thing clear: both backs are going to matter.
Saleh said the team will sort out exactly how it wants to deploy them over time, but he pointed to the way their skill sets fit together. Pollard brings the kind of protection and receiving ability that can keep an offense on schedule, while Spears adds another layer as a route runner.
“We’ll decide that as time goes, but those two complement each other very, very well,” Saleh said, via the team’s website. “They’re both really, really good third down backs.
I remember studying last year, you’re not beating Tony one-on-one in a protection system. The guy’s an elite blocker, and he’s also really good out of the backfield.
And then Tyj, from a route-running ability, he’s really good in that regard. They do a really nice job complementing one another.
So, like I said, we’ll figure all that out as time goes, but both are really good. “
In Jacksonville, Trevor Lawrence is looking at a different kind of personnel puzzle, and he likes the options the Jaguars have built at tight end. The team added two rookies in the draft - second-rounder Nate Boerkircher and fifth-rounder Tanner Koziol - to go with Brenton Strange, and Lawrence believes that kind of depth can shape how defenses line up.
“I think having a well-rounded tight end room is super important, because you talk about all the different personnel groupings when you’re trying to get a certain defensive personnel on the field, and you have the ability to still throw the ball, whether it’s 12 or 13 (personnel), you still have a real threat in the pass game,” Lawrence said, via the team’s social media. “And that’s important because then you can dictate what happens with the defense a little bit more.
And when you don’t, it’s a little bit harder; you get a little bit more easier to track what you’re doing, as far as running the ball, tendencies, and all that, so I think that’s going to help us with our tendencies. Going to be able to do a lot of different things run game and pass game with the versatile tight ends we have.”
In Houston, Jaylen Reed is approaching Year 2 with a bigger opportunity in front of him and a clear mindset about how to seize it. The Texans defensive back said the first season helped him settle in, and now he’s being pushed to grow into a larger job.
“Going into year two, after having a year under my belt, definitely helped,” Reed said, via the team’s website. “The coaches I have and the staff, they’re helping me develop into a young man that’s going to take on bigger roles this season.
I’m excited for it. I’m prepared for it.
I’m up for the challenge.”
Reed also leaned into the chip on his shoulder that comes with being a sixth-round pick.
“I definitely feel like I was never supposed to go to the sixth round,” he said. “But I feel like God has plans for me. And I’m just going to continue to thrive in that aspect.”
And if Reed is going to carve out a bigger role early, he knows special teams could be the fastest way to get there. He said he wants to be the kind of player coaches can plug in anywhere.
“DeMeco always says he wants football players,” Reed said. “And I believe I’m a football player.
It’s not just being a safety. It’s being a football player all around the field.
Special teams, defense, whatever the package is, nickel. I know I can do it all.”
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Now the challenge is whether that edge can hold after Lloyds offseason departure. The Jaguars still have the framework of a defense that understands how to hunt the football, and Antonio Johnsons second-half rise helped keep the turnover production from falling apart late in the year. But replacing a player who shaped so many of those game-changing moments is a different task entirely, and it leaves Jacksonville with a real identity test heading into the next phase of the roster build. [Read more 🡒]