The Tennessee Titans will face the Indianapolis Colts in Week 16. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Titans skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 16 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Mason Rudolph, QB
Did you know that Mason Rudolph’s first name is “Brett”?
There ya go; now you can’t say I never teach you anything.
Rudolph was fine last week (209 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception), but consider the source. He was able to leverage a Bengals matchup and kinda sorta almost be viable.
The Indianapolis matchup isn’t one that needs to be feared, but they aren’t Cincinnati.
Defensive ranks, 2024:
- Red-zone defense: Colts (17th), Bengals (31st)
- Goal-to-go defense: Colts (14th), Bengals (31st)
- Yards per completion: Colts (11th), Bengals (22nd)
- Deep pass TD%: Colts (second), Bengals (27th)
In a Superflex situation, I’d take Rudolph over a Xavier Worthy type, but that’s as far as I’m going.
Will Levis, QB
Will Levis threw a pressured touchdown pass in the second quarter of Week 1’s loss to the Bears — he hasn’t thrown such a score since. That streak will continue through this week since he has been benched — during the holiday season — for Mason Rudolph.
The Titans are going to have to make some tough calls this summer, but it seems more likely than not that they will be restarting the rebuild on the offensive side of the ball.
Tony Pollard, RB
Tony Pollard came into Week 15’s game with the Bengals battling an ankle injury, but Tennessee called his number in a significant way early on (five carries and a touchdown on their first six plays from scrimmage).
That’s the good. The bad was the rest of the game. He finished with 17 carries for just 45 yards and is now producing 20% under expectations over his past three games. Combine his underwhelming performances (yet to be a top-20 RB in consecutive games this season) with a mini-Tyjae Spears breakout (10 touches and two scores last week) and we could be looking at a running back that sees his production fall off a cliff at the worst time possible.
Pollard has lost two fumbles over the past three games; volume has been his calling card this season, something that is very much at risk.
I currently have Pollard on my re-draft benches and will pivot if we get positive health news.
Tyjae Spears, RB
Tyjae Spears caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph last week, and that came after he punched in a short touchdown on the ground thanks to a very iffy pass interference call that put this team in a position to score.
Tony Pollard came into the week with a bulky ankle, but all reporting out of Tennessee seems to suggest that the 55/45 snap share edge with which Spears finished last week was more earned than injury-related.
Spears hasn’t gotten the chance to shine consistently on the NFL stage, but the returns in his limited usage through two seasons have been encouraging (78.4% catch rate and 5.2 yards per touch).
I want more news on Pollard’s ankle before labeling Spears as a Flex option for Week 16, but considering that the Colts are the second-best run defense by EPA, there’s a reasonably clear path for Spears to see a handful of check-down targets on Sunday.
With full-blown committees penciled in for the Jaguars, Jets, and Broncos, not to mention unappealing situations for the Giants, Raiders, and Chargers, there’s a reasonably clear path to top-30 value if we see reports suggesting that Spears could again handle half of the snaps this weekend.
Calvin Ridley, WR
In the limited sample with Mason Rudolph this season, Calvin Ridley has as many targets as any two of his teammates combined, but the volume has been empty on all levels.
Titans pass-catchers production with Rudolph, 2024:
- Calvin Ridley: 38 targets, 20 catches, 284 yards, zero TDs
- Chig Okonkwo: 22 targets, 15 catches, 142 yards, zero TDs
- Nick Westbrook-Ikhine: 16 targets, 11 catches, 108 yards, three TDs
- Josh Whyle: 14 catches, 12 targets, 121 yards, one TD
- Tyler Boyd: 12 targets, nine catches, 84 yards, zero TDs
The tight end split is interesting if you’re trying to get exposure to this game to be different in a DFS setting, but outside of that, you’re fading all parts of this passing game. The problem here is that the least targeted players are the most fantasy-efficient — in a low-volume offense, that’s not going to cut it.
There are three big-play receivers this week working with backup QBs, and I have them ranked back-to-back-to-back in the low 40s at the position (Jerry Jeuy and Xavier Worthy being the other two).
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR
Don’t you love it when regression works the way it’s supposed to?
No? Just me?
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was scoring once every 4.8 targets for over two months, and I don’t think I ranked him as a top-40 option once.
No…I know I didn’t. And I was wrong plenty. I went the other way in just about every question that came in on Twitter, and I’m sure I cost some people some matchups.
But water has finally begun to find its level.
There have been a few misses, I’ll give you that. Westbrook-Ikhine’s role near the goal line is certainly noteworthy, but nothing in this profile outside of a crazy scoring spurt requires our attention — and that includes the offensive environment as a whole.
Westbrook-Ikhine has not been a top-60 receiver in consecutive games and safely, again, ranks well outside of my Flex tier this week. He earned just two targets in the first meeting with the Colts (Week 6), one of which, of course, was a score. If you want to chase that, go ahead. It’s not for me and never will be.