Let’s talk about some Tennessee Titans’ running backs!
This is the beginning of the RB portion of an ongoing article series, breaking down the Titans projected 53-man roster one position at a time. If you missed the Quarterback edition, you can read that here.
This format allows us to talk about the story on each player on the Titans roster in detail, and that makes it very well suited for the running back room. Every time I’ve written or talked about this unit, it’s been in a nearly dismissive tone due to how predictable I believe the cutdown will be. But while the order of the depth chart may be simple, the narrative following each of these backs this year isn’t.
Full disclosure: this began as an article on the full RB room, but it quickly became clear that some positions on this team deserve a player-by-player breakdown. So we're starting with Kalel Mullings here, and my thoughts on Spears and Pollard will come out within the next 24 hours. Alright, let’s dive into what makes them interesting:
Running Backs
- Tony Pollard
- Tyjae Spears
- Kalel Mullings
Cut: Julius Chestnut, Tyrion Davis-Price
Mullings Is What Titans Wanted… I Think
One of the players on this team I get asked about the most is 6th Round rookie Kalel Mullings. Why is he the obvious choice to be the third and final RB on this roster? What’s his ceiling? Could he break into the rotation?
All are good questions. First of all, yes, I’m very confident he will be the third RB behind Pollard and Spears as long as he comes into training camp recovered from his abdominal injury. He dealt with a very standard sports condition through the spring that he healed enough from to join a bit of the action at the tail end of minicamp. All indications are that he’ll be good to go in July, and if so, I expect him to beat out Julius Chestnut and Tyrion Davis-Price. Some will wonder aloud about keeping a fourth RB, but I don’t expect to be one of them. Chestnut is a classic practice squad body to me, and TDP is a camp body.
The Titans set out this spring to find a third back in free agency or the draft to be a change of pace to the Pollard/Spears duo. They think they found that in Mullings, who I agree fits the bill. Funny enough, I think Mullings will be a lot like another Michigan alum the Titans are familiar with: Hassan Haskins. Obviously Haskins didn’t work out in Tennessee for a number of reasons, but stop your snickering: that man scored a touchdown on you in November!
I think Mullings has a pretty hard ceiling stylistically. But that specific style of running is exactly what the Titans have been looking for, so simply being a useful role player is exactly what they need him to become. If he proves to be a traditional between-the-tackles runner, with limited burst and agility, who is effective on dirty work downs, and is useful on special teams; then that’s a win for the Titans in my book here.
