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RB Tyjae Spears, TEN (2 Viewers)

Any speculation on where Spears will go in a 12 team 1 QB draft?
I would say early to mid second round, but there’s always that one guy in your league who thinks the writing is on the wall for Henry and will reach for him at 1.11 or something.

Just a wild guess
 
So what's the deal here. Missing an ACL is something I've never heard of. It has the ring of "zero chance as NFL RB", but I have no clue. Is there precedent for this? I'm figuring he is a boom/bust flyer.
 
So what's the deal here. Missing an ACL is something I've never heard of. It has the ring of "zero chance as NFL RB", but I have no clue. Is there precedent for this? I'm figuring he is a boom/bust flyer.
Hines Ward was missing an ACL when he entered the league.
 
So what's the deal here. Missing an ACL is something I've never heard of. It has the ring of "zero chance as NFL RB", but I have no clue. Is there precedent for this? I'm figuring he is a boom/bust flyer.
Hines Ward was missing an ACL when he entered the league.
Interesting! Did not know this. Obviously that doesn't mean "oh, fine and dandy then", but it's good to know there is a case of a successful career.
 
If you can miss your ACL, some players should just have theirs removed.
I also was not aware people just don't have an ACL. Is this real?
 
Observations From Titans Rookie Minicamp on Saturday

Excerpt:

Running back Tajae Spears probably made the most eye-opening impression on me right out of the gate. Part of that is because he moves so well in space, and he found plenty of it on Saturday. Call it a wiggle, call it a juke, or call it anything you what you want it, but the third-round pick took short passes and quickly got into the open field on Saturday. Spears had a few hiccups himself, but Spears also showed some glimpses of what made him such a playmaker in college. At his media session after practice, Spears faced numerous questions about his surgically repaired knee, and at one point shut the conversation down by simply saying he's healthy. He sure looked it today.
 
Again, Titans coaches point out he has very different skill set to Henry as a reply to asking if he's the backup.
I still think he's the third down back.

We need contact (camp) and to read he's picking up the blitz well. Without that, Haskins will beat him out or steal his snaps. Very doable, but it's a necessary next step to the summer
 
Has arthritis in his knee, No ACL, No cartilage, No thanks. I doubt he makes it through his rookie contract.
 
I believe people have got overly worried about the knee and he's become one of the best values going right now in redraft and dynasty.
If those three things aren't red flags, then there are no red flags.

While they are definitely not a non-issue I would be far more concerned if the Titans did not use a third-round pick (81st overall) on him and he slid to the 5th-7th round area...also for me I don't look at RBs in more than 2–3-year windows (and move on from them very quickly) because I don't trust them so I don't have the same concerns a Dynasty Owner who may look at RBs differently may have.
 
I believe people have got overly worried about the knee and he's become one of the best values going right now in redraft and dynasty.
If those three things aren't red flags, then there are no red flags.
I don't view those as 3 things, I view it as one, a knee. It all works together, when you don't have an ACL it leads to arthritis. And none of those issues are impacting or are excuses for his performance, that would be a major issue for me but it's not that, it's just led to speculation on how long before it does impact him. It's possible it ends up being an almost non-factor, Hines Ward entered league with the same issue. Saying that I'm working with the premise it likely does impact him in a few years and this may sound crazy,but I mean it and I've told friends this a few weeks ago, that it makes me actually higher on him. Hear me out.

Let me start with premise I knew for months he had two ACL's injuries so I already knew he had knee concerns, I just did not know he was missing the ACL. Key is I'm starting from a position of knowing he has an issue with his knee.

The Titans obviously have his full medical records and still used relatively high draft capital relative to the position. Just looking at the position they could have picked Achane, Bigsby, Johnson, etc,etc. That means a lot more to me people without his medical records speculating on the condition of his knee. But let's assume the Titans believe the knee makes him a one contract player. This is where I get to the point of why it makes me higher on him knowing this info/relative to the draft capital and who they could have chose instead. Because if they view him as a one contract player or someone whose knee could give them issues in a few years and they still chose him that high it likely means they have plans for a fairly significant and immediate role for him.

That is obviously self-explanatory for why I think he's become a great value in redraft. He's not a threat to Henry of course but the King is a 29 year old hard used RB and the options in the passing game are by and large weak. This is all adding up to a year one role I think is bigger then people are anticipating and he's getting drafted well into the area that several handcuffs are long drafted. My belief is he offers handcuff plus flex type appeal which makes him a value, a strong one.

Now for dynasty. You got all the stuff with Henry being in the last year of his contract and an in-season trade candidates if the teams starts poorly. Stuff everyone knows which could clear a path for Spears in 2024 to take on a much bigger role, if not sooner with a Henry injury or trade. But again, this is stuff everyone knows. I'm just trying to say the Titans would not have drafted Spears this high over those RB's if they did not have plans and see a fairly immediate role for him.

Lastly if Spears takes on this larger role in next year or two and looks good doing it most people won't remember any these concerns. I've experienced this before in similar situations. If anyone owning him in dynasty has concerns about his longevity I think the odds are quite high you can move him at a return well over what you paid, for sure over where he's currently going in rookie drafts.

ETA-I forgot to add for dynasty purposes he's a RB. It's not like drafting a WR you hope you can be a 7-10 year guy. Even using top draft capital like I Bijan I would only expect 5-6 years if things went well. We see Rb's fantasy value get crushed in draft and FA every year. I just would not spend to much energy forecasting if his knee is good in 3-4 years as I do in if he can get on the field, have a role and look good doing it.
 
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I just believe he won't make it past his rookie contract. I don't know of any RB with arthritis, no acl, no cartilage ever having longevity.
 
I just believe he won't make it past his rookie contract. I don't know of any RB with arthritis, no acl, no cartilage ever having longevity.
What's the sample size on RB's with arthritis, no acl, no cartilage?
Probably low because not too many RBs have that problem. Todd Gurley comes to mind. He was done after his injuries. Not sure about missing all of that, but he had bad arthritis in his knee.
 
I just believe he won't make it past his rookie contract. I don't know of any RB with arthritis, no acl, no cartilage ever having longevity.
What's the sample size on RB's with arthritis, no acl, no cartilage?
Probably low because not too many RBs have that problem. Todd Gurley comes to mind. He was done after his injuries. Not sure about missing all of that, but he had bad arthritis in his knee.
Yeah, I do remember arthritis being Gurley's downfall. I was being half-facetious, since there can't me many, if any, who had all three of those issues. While I do agree it is a major red flag ... he would surely have been drafted much higher and would be my overall #3 or #4 rookie if not for the red flag. So even with the big risk, he's still my RB6-8.
 

Titans signed No. 81 overall pick Tyjae Spears to a four-year contract.​

Spears projects as a challenger to be Tennessee's third-down back, a role that was almost vacant last year after Dontrell Hilliard went down. Hassan Haskins and Jonathan Ward were catching balls by the end of the season. Spears probably will not see too many carries behind Derrick Henry unless he gets hurt or is traded, but he's clearly the back with the best pedigree that's actually guaranteed to be on the roster for 2024 at this point.
May 25, 2023, 4:09 PM ET
 
Ecstatic to nab him very late second (in that league QBs and TEs are a premium and go higher, but would still be bottom half of second if equating)
 
I believe people have got overly worried about the knee and he's become one of the best values going right now in redraft and dynasty.
If those three things aren't red flags, then there are no red flags.

While they are definitely not a non-issue I would be far more concerned if the Titans did not use a third-round pick (81st overall) on him and he slid to the 5th-7th round area...also for me I don't look at RBs in more than 2–3-year windows (and move on from them very quickly) because I don't trust them so I don't have the same concerns a Dynasty Owner who may look at RBs differently may have.
Right, even if it's just a couple of boom years before his body breaks down given his current rate that'd still net +ROI. Just look at similarly priced rb's from 2019 and 2020 classes.
 
I got him at 2.11 in our rookie draft. If I even get one flex worthy year out of him before I cut bait in 2026ish then it was a great pick.
 
Was shocked he went undrafted in our 36 pick rookie draft. Superflex, but he still should get drafted. I was very glad to grab him after the draft.
Can't go wrong with that, good job, even if I believe he will have to play on one leg eventually.
 
I got him at 2.11 in our rookie draft. If I even get one flex worthy year out of him before I cut bait in 2026ish then it was a great pick.
2.9 in my non ppr superflex rookie draft. This is a league where rbs are a premium so loved the value. I get the knee issues but at 2.9 it’s worth it even if he has one good year or two plug in play value years.
 
I believe people have got overly worried about the knee and he's become one of the best values going right now in redraft and dynasty.
If those three things aren't red flags, then there are no red flags.
I don't view those as 3 things, I view it as one, a knee. It all works together, when you don't have an ACL it leads to arthritis. And none of those issues are impacting or are excuses for his performance, that would be a major issue for me but it's not that, it's just led to speculation on how long before it does impact him. It's possible it ends up being an almost non-factor, Hines Ward entered league with the same issue. Saying that I'm working with the premise it likely does impact him in a few years and this may sound crazy,but I mean it and I've told friends this a few weeks ago, that it makes me actually higher on him. Hear me out.

Let me start with premise I knew for months he had two ACL's injuries so I already knew he had knee concerns, I just did not know he was missing the ACL. Key is I'm starting from a position of knowing he has an issue with his knee.

The Titans obviously have his full medical records and still used relatively high draft capital relative to the position. Just looking at the position they could have picked Achane, Bigsby, Johnson, etc,etc. That means a lot more to me people without his medical records speculating on the condition of his knee. But let's assume the Titans believe the knee makes him a one contract player. This is where I get to the point of why it makes me higher on him knowing this info/relative to the draft capital and who they could have chose instead. Because if they view him as a one contract player or someone whose knee could give them issues in a few years and they still chose him that high it likely means they have plans for a fairly significant and immediate role for him.

That is obviously self-explanatory for why I think he's become a great value in redraft. He's not a threat to Henry of course but the King is a 29 year old hard used RB and the options in the passing game are by and large weak. This is all adding up to a year one role I think is bigger then people are anticipating and he's getting drafted well into the area that several handcuffs are long drafted. My belief is he offers handcuff plus flex type appeal which makes him a value, a strong one.

Now for dynasty. You got all the stuff with Henry being in the last year of his contract and an in-season trade candidates if the teams starts poorly. Stuff everyone knows which could clear a path for Spears in 2024 to take on a much bigger role, if not sooner with a Henry injury or trade. But again, this is stuff everyone knows. I'm just trying to say the Titans would not have drafted Spears this high over those RB's if they did not have plans and see a fairly immediate role for him.

Lastly if Spears takes on this larger role in next year or two and looks good doing it most people won't remember any these concerns. I've experienced this before in similar situations. If anyone owning him in dynasty has concerns about his longevity I think the odds are quite high you can move him at a return well over what you paid, for sure over where he's currently going in rookie drafts.

ETA-I forgot to add for dynasty purposes he's a RB. It's not like drafting a WR you hope you can be a 7-10 year guy. Even using top draft capital like I Bijan I would only expect 5-6 years if things went well. We see Rb's fantasy value get crushed in draft and FA every year. I just would not spend to much energy forecasting if his knee is good in 3-4 years as I do in if he can get on the field, have a role and look good doing it.
If you do not have an ACL your joint is unstable. You cannot shift weight, juke etc on an unstable joint. I read some non sense that if the knee was arthritic then it could explain how his knee is stable. If your joint is that arthritic yor are not playing football. There are some surgical procedures that can be done to stabilize the knee without a graft. It is a possibility but my suspicion is he had grafts done both times. People who say he did not are speculating and have no more knowledge of the situation than anyone else on this board. I see running backs as 3-4 year propositions anyway. Players like Henry are the exception and not the rule. I picked Spears without much concern. After passing on Gore, I am done pretending that I can forecast player's career.
 
I believe people have got overly worried about the knee and he's become one of the best values going right now in redraft and dynasty.
If those three things aren't red flags, then there are no red flags.
I don't view those as 3 things, I view it as one, a knee. It all works together, when you don't have an ACL it leads to arthritis. And none of those issues are impacting or are excuses for his performance, that would be a major issue for me but it's not that, it's just led to speculation on how long before it does impact him. It's possible it ends up being an almost non-factor, Hines Ward entered league with the same issue. Saying that I'm working with the premise it likely does impact him in a few years and this may sound crazy,but I mean it and I've told friends this a few weeks ago, that it makes me actually higher on him. Hear me out.

Let me start with premise I knew for months he had two ACL's injuries so I already knew he had knee concerns, I just did not know he was missing the ACL. Key is I'm starting from a position of knowing he has an issue with his knee.

The Titans obviously have his full medical records and still used relatively high draft capital relative to the position. Just looking at the position they could have picked Achane, Bigsby, Johnson, etc,etc. That means a lot more to me people without his medical records speculating on the condition of his knee. But let's assume the Titans believe the knee makes him a one contract player. This is where I get to the point of why it makes me higher on him knowing this info/relative to the draft capital and who they could have chose instead. Because if they view him as a one contract player or someone whose knee could give them issues in a few years and they still chose him that high it likely means they have plans for a fairly significant and immediate role for him.

That is obviously self-explanatory for why I think he's become a great value in redraft. He's not a threat to Henry of course but the King is a 29 year old hard used RB and the options in the passing game are by and large weak. This is all adding up to a year one role I think is bigger then people are anticipating and he's getting drafted well into the area that several handcuffs are long drafted. My belief is he offers handcuff plus flex type appeal which makes him a value, a strong one.

Now for dynasty. You got all the stuff with Henry being in the last year of his contract and an in-season trade candidates if the teams starts poorly. Stuff everyone knows which could clear a path for Spears in 2024 to take on a much bigger role, if not sooner with a Henry injury or trade. But again, this is stuff everyone knows. I'm just trying to say the Titans would not have drafted Spears this high over those RB's if they did not have plans and see a fairly immediate role for him.

Lastly if Spears takes on this larger role in next year or two and looks good doing it most people won't remember any these concerns. I've experienced this before in similar situations. If anyone owning him in dynasty has concerns about his longevity I think the odds are quite high you can move him at a return well over what you paid, for sure over where he's currently going in rookie drafts.

ETA-I forgot to add for dynasty purposes he's a RB. It's not like drafting a WR you hope you can be a 7-10 year guy. Even using top draft capital like I Bijan I would only expect 5-6 years if things went well. We see Rb's fantasy value get crushed in draft and FA every year. I just would not spend to much energy forecasting if his knee is good in 3-4 years as I do in if he can get on the field, have a role and look good doing it.
If you do not have an ACL your joint is unstable. You cannot shift weight, juke etc on an unstable joint. I read some non sense that if the knee was arthritic then it could explain how his knee is stable. If your joint is that arthritic yor are not playing football. There are some surgical procedures that can be done to stabilize the knee without a graft. It is a possibility but my suspicion is he had grafts done both times. People who say he did not are speculating and have no more knowledge of the situation than anyone else on this board. I see running backs as 3-4 year propositions anyway. Players like Henry are the exception and not the rule. I picked Spears without much concern. After passing on Gore, I am done pretending that I can forecast player's career.
The cost is what you have to weigh. Spears is going in the mid-late 2nd in my superflex drafts. If he doesn't pan out or gets injured, so what. It didn't cost you much.
 

Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly said they are going to give RB Tyjae Spears "as much as he can handle".

Though the Titans' backfield still belongs to Derick Henry, the quote from Kelly is undoubtedly optimistic, even if he is referring to the variety of work Spears will see or the number of reps he'll get during the summer. Spears, the No. 81 overall pick, left Tulane with a three-down profile. He rushed for 1,581 yards and added another 256 through the air as a senior. He should immediately step into a pass-catching role for the Titans and may already have the inside track on backup duties to Henry. Hassan Haskins, a fourth-round pick in 2022, is his biggest competition for the job right now.
RELATED:
SOURCE: Jim Wyatt on Twitter
Jun 7, 2023 at 12:51 PM ET
 

Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly said they are going to give RB Tyjae Spears "as much as he can handle".

Though the Titans' backfield still belongs to Derick Henry, the quote from Kelly is undoubtedly optimistic, even if he is referring to the variety of work Spears will see or the number of reps he'll get during the summer. Spears, the No. 81 overall pick, left Tulane with a three-down profile. He rushed for 1,581 yards and added another 256 through the air as a senior. He should immediately step into a pass-catching role for the Titans and may already have the inside track on backup duties to Henry. Hassan Haskins, a fourth-round pick in 2022, is his biggest competition for the job right now.
RELATED:
SOURCE: Jim Wyatt on Twitter
Jun 7, 2023 at 12:51 PM ET
During each spring, like many teams, they line their RBs out at WR a little bit. He did well.

He's getting a lot of love right now but it's still as a third down back.
Haskins (who has nice hands) is still widely presumed to be the Henry sub.
Asking reporters if Spears looks better than Haskins gets "different type of player, one is all wiggle, one can move a pile."
And....like I predicted, the run of minicamp came from Julius Chestnut yesterday. The small school monkey wrench that made it last year and played above Haskins til late in the year.
Chestnut is a smart back. It's not hard to notice they trust him.
Spears and Haskins have to pickup the blitz well, hit the right hole, and run the right routes etc to knock Chestnut off the mountain. And probably special teams too.

I doubt highly doubt Chestnut makes it but it would not surprise me if either of them gets coaching quotes all summer like "still learning" or "need some development" and they keep Chestnut over one of them.
 
Titans
HC Mike Vrabel: Hassan Haskins (
@H2_3125
) is a guy who shows up when the pads come on. We're excited about where he's at, and how he can contribute
 

Titans.com's Jim Wyatt reports rookie RB Tyjae Spears has been "one of the most active players" this offseason.

Spears is one of the standouts of Tennessee's OTAs. The third-round rookie is competing with Hassan Haskins for the RB2 role and looks to have the early edge. Titans OC Tim Kelly has said the team has plans for Spears, who projects as the third-down back and likely hedge to Derrick Henry.
SOURCE: tennesseetitans.com
Jun 10, 2023 at 9:46 AM ET
 
Any recent news on Spears? He seems like a deep sleeper. Henry is getting old in rb years
Nah, waiting for camp.
Waiting to see him take some hits and play against some other defenses and all that type thinking.
I'm sure a lot of people are mildly curious if he grabs his knee or limps or whatever too
 
Any recent news on Spears? He seems like a deep sleeper. Henry is getting old in rb years
(RB crazy dynasty league)
I have him #7 (all my first 7 are RB) on my rookie draft board. Potential of a very good running back is too much to pass up, even with huge risk. Not that that answers your question -- haven't heard anything on him lately.
 
I have him #7 (all my first 7 are RB)
I know you always say your league is “RB crazy” but why do you need to join in the crazy?
If your league went 6 RBs to start the draft, why not take JSN or Addison instead of some scrub backup RB? Unless you also have crazy RB scoring rules that give them huge advantages, it doesn’t make sense.
Well I do have JSN as my #9 overall, and I have the #8 and #9, so I will take him if he's there. It's not exactly crazy RB scoring, but the lineup (QRRWWF KD) does make RB a good bit more valuable relative to WR versus a lot of leagues that have 3 WR and/or multiple flex.

However, I did, start a thread (somewhere 🤷‍♂️) asking what exactly I should do in such a league. Generally my idea now is to go for either elite picks for an elite RB (top 3 or whatever the case may be), or late second rounders, and then I can either take great value WR or very deep RB with those picks. But currently I am sitting with those middle ground #8 and #9 picks too.

Mainly, I don't want to take any receiver with any pick above ~10 simply because I know some of the top ones will be there at ~20.
 
I have him #7 (all my first 7 are RB)
I know you always say your league is “RB crazy” but why do you need to join in the crazy?
If your league went 6 RBs to start the draft, why not take JSN or Addison instead of some scrub backup RB? Unless you also have crazy RB scoring rules that give them huge advantages, it doesn’t make sense.
Okay I thought I posted a thread, but more like I kind of hijacked another thread with my own, but relevant, situation. https://forums.footballguys.com/threads/early-1-qb-draft-thoughts.808402/post-24503981

So here is where I am at on this year's draft. Trying to check myself for sanity. I have the #1 (easy), #8, #9, #11, #13, #18, #19, and #20. My league is 12-team, 20-man, PPR, QRRWWFKD, 6 pts all TDs. This makes it a little RB crazy, and in my opinion the league leans significantly farther toward RB than it should. The first round is typically 8-10 RB's. Last year was 11. My hope of course was to get RB's with those #8 and #9 picks. But as you can tell, those picks would likely be RB6-7 at best, RB8-9 at worst. My draft board currently has WR's at #8, #11, #13, #14, and the rest of the top 14 are RB's. Suppose 2 WR out of JSN, Addison, Johnston are still there at my 8/9 spot. Am I fully insane if I only take 1 WR there along with, say, the RB7 on my draft board? Or am I wisely drafting to the twisted reality in which the league exists? In other words, is it in any way acceptable to pass on Addison/Johnston to take the 7th RB on my board? ... Just trade down?
 
Many probably think Spears at 2.2 was a reach but I will invest in talent and hope the injury situation holds off for at least 3-4 years. The dude seems to be the truth!
 
Many probably think Spears at 2.2 was a reach but I will invest in talent and hope the injury situation holds off for at least 3-4 years. The dude seems to be the truth!
I took him at 2.3.
RBs are not valued might as well.
 

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