Replacing Derrick Henry won’t just be the job of two men.

In Henry’s five healthy seasons, from 2018 to 2023, the Tennessee Titans handed the ball to their No. 3 running back an average of 0.75 times per game. Their No. 3 running back in 2023, Jonathan Ward, carried just three times all season.

For comparison, the average No. 3 NFL back in 2023 carried 32 times. The Pittsburgh Steelers were the only team that used a third tailback less frequently than the Titans.

Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard are taking over Henry’s mantle atop the depth chart, but without a Henry-like presence touching the ball 30 times per game, the Titans need more bodies.

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“You’re not just going to have two backs. You’re actually going to have to platoon about three of them,” Titans running backs coach Randy Jordan told The Tennessean. “That third guy’s got to be a special teams guy. He’s got to be a guy we can count on. I really look for that third guy to be able to play on first, second and third down and be able to be a plug-and-play guy. It’s a really, really big decision.”

The Titans’ options beyond Spears and Pollard are: 2022 fourth-round pick Hassan Haskins; two-year practice squad player Julius Chestnut; and undrafted rookies Jabari Small and Dillon Johnson. The four players have 34 NFL carries combined, and none since 2022.

No player in that bunch should be expected to replace Henry, but Jordan has various reasons for why he’s excited about the depth of his room.

Tennessee Titans’ running back depth, analyzed

The biggest question mark about the Spears-Pollard tandem is to whom the Titans will turn in situations that call for a bigger back. This is where Haskins can stake his claim to the No. 3 job.

“Hassan, he’s one that I’m really intrigued with,” Jordan said. “Big backs, I kind of like coaching those guys. They have a different type of skill set. I call it being a bully. I say, ‘Look, God made you that size. Let’s make sure we let people know that you’re the bully on every play.’ “

Jordan says the 6-foot-2, 228-pound Haskins is doing a good job of absorbing information and executing plays. Haskins hasn’t played since 2022, though, and he’s not the Titans’ only bigger option. Chestnut measures in at 5-11, 228 pounds, and Johnson is 5-11, 217 pounds.

More than filling one specific role, though, Jordan says the main thing he’s looking for from a No. 3 back is consistency. He doesn’t want players who know the protections on Wednesday but forget them by Friday, or players who have energy on Thursdays but not Mondays.

With regards to consistency, he has been pleased with his two rookies. Small, the Tennessee product, and Johnson, the Washington standout, roomed together throughout OTAs and minicamp, helping each other learn the offense. Both have significant learning curves coming from wide-open college passing attacks, starting even with huddling for the first time.

But both expressed confidence in their fit with the Titans.

“I think it complements me,” Johnson said. “I played at Washington where we threw the ball a lot, but we also ran the ball a lot. So that’s kind of a balanced attack.”

“It’s definitely a learning curve as far as what I’ve been doing the past three years, but football is football,” Small added. “Everybody runs the same things. It’s just different formations, different terminology.”

Jordan called Small the team’s “tweener.” Come training camp, Jordan is excited to see how Small responds in pass protection, because he’s already fairly confident in his pass-catching ability and versatility.

Between the practice squad and active roster, it’s plausible the Titans could hold on to Haskins, Chestnut, Johnson and Small, especially with the added value running backs provide under the new kickoff rules. But given the need for balanced depth everywhere, it’s most likely the player who makes the 53-man roster as the No. 3 running back will have to be dependable as a runner, receiver, blocker and tackler.

Figuring out who that should be will earn Jordan his paycheck.

“It’s probably one of the most important things as a coach that I’m going to have to do this year,” Jordan said.

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Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

OMAHA, Neb. — AJ Russell smirked and shook his head.

The Tennessee baseball pitcher walked off the field in awe of Dylan Dreiling again. Russell is hardly alone. It’s a state that is enveloping all comers at Charles Schwab Field during the Vols’ crusade through the College World Series.

If it hasn’t caught you yet, you’re not paying attention. 

“If you have been watching Tennessee baseball, you know Dylan Dreiling is pretty clutch,” Vols second baseman Christian Moore said.

Dreiling, the soft-spoken, hard-swinging outfielder, is crafting a legend in Omaha. His latest installment of heroism ensured Tennessee’s season didn’t end Sunday and is giving the Vols (59-13) a shot at the program’s first national title. He bashed a two-run homer that crashed into the railing over the Tennessee bullpen in right field, propelling the Vols toward a 4-1 win and forcing a Game 3 on Monday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) against Texas A&M (53-14).

This is what Dreiling does.

What makes Dylan Dreiling a lethal presence in the Tennessee baseball lineup

Dreiling greeted Vols hitting coach and third-base coach Josh Elander as he rounded the bases Sunday.

All he did was grin.

“He is just a pro,” Elander said. “He is always under control. It is nothing crazy flashy one way or the other.”

The former is how Dreiling excels. The latter is how he often flies under the radar. He is a professional hitter who shows up and produces.

It starts with an unflappable demeanor, which is why he readily rises in the biggest moments. That presence dates back to his high school career in Hays, Kansas. He played for the Hays Larks, a collegiate summer team managed by his grandfather, Frank Leo. He did that instead of typical summer ball games, surrounding himself from an early age with mature players.

That is the foundation of what Elander labels “a pretty special makeup.”

“He just wants to play ball,” Elander said. “I think that is why he is going to play for a long time. He is more of a pro now than I think a lot of our guys have been.”

Dreiling pairs his settled attitude with insane hitting skills. The draft-eligible sophomore is a master of the strike zone whose analytics and metrics are off the charts, Elander said. He is strong and selective at the plate while making constant hard contact, a dangerous combination for any pitcher to grapple with during an at-bat.

Sunday’s homer was his 22nd of the season, tied for the fourth-most in Tennessee history.

“It is real juice,” Elander said. “He can get you.”

How Dylan Dreiling is becoming a College World Series legend

Dreiling opened a water bottle and beamed at catcher Cal Stark during a postgame interview Sunday before Stark gave his opinion on why Dreiling came through again.

“I think his heart just kind of stays calm, his mind stays calm,” Stark said. “I feel like he’s kind of built for those moments.”

Dreiling has shown it often in his career. He smashed a pinch-hit, two-out, two-strike homer against Vanderbilt in a game that flipped UT’s 2023 season. He hit late homers against Georgia and Queens this season and had a mammoth hit against LSU in April.

He is hitting .422 with five homers, 12 RBIs and 14 runs in the NCAA Tournament.

Dreiling dialed it up in Omaha. He walked off Florida State in UT’s opener with a single to cap a four-run ninth inning. That was his first four-hit day in the College World Series. The second was Saturday in the opener of the final against Texas A&M. He didn’t have a four-hit game in 67 games before the CWS.

He is hitting .500 in Tennessee’s five games in the CWS with two homers and eight RBIs. He hasn’t been held hitless, but was until the seventh inning Sunday. He stepped in with Moore on second and with the tip that Texas A&M reliever Kaiden Wilson had a rising fastball.

The Vols were confident as always in Dreiling.

“I think you are just going to get a quality at-bat,” Elander said. “That is what we are looking for. He has been able to hit some big ones. We want quality there and he is going to give it to us.”

MAKEUP: The summer that set Dylan Dreiling on path as Tennessee baseball’s quiet superstar

Dreiling focused on keeping his heart rate low and to get a ball down in the zone. He crushed a 1-1 pitch, unleashing all of his power and a brief batch of emotion.

“It was a sweet swing,” Moore said. “It was beautiful.”

Dreiling glanced to Stark earlier in postgame interviews Sunday and expressed he had given a “pretty good” answer.

“You could run for office,” Vols coach Tony Vitello said.

If Dreiling does it again Monday, it won’t be a quip anymore.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

For the second time in a matter of days, Tennessee baseball has a high-profile celebrity showing their endorsement of the Vols in the College World Series.

This time: American country music singer and songwriter Morgan Wallen.

Wallen was spotted walking into Charles Schwab Field in Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska Sunday before Game 2 of the College World Series championship series between the Vols and No. 3 Texas A&M, where Tennessee trails 1-0 in the best-of-three series.

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Why is Morgan Wallen at the CWS Game 2?

Wallen, who is next set to play Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on June 27 as part of his ongoing tour, is in Omaha showing his support for his hometown Vols.

Like Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper, who wore a Vols jersey into Citizen Bank Park Friday, Wallen is friends with Vols manager Tony Vitello.

Wallen has kept to his roots in Tennessee since his music career took off around 2014 after he finished competing on NBC’s “The Voice.” Back during Memorial Day weekend, Wallen opened up his six-storied bar Morgan Wallen’s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen in Nashville. Then this past weekend, the Morgan Wallen Foundation donated $100,000 to renovate two local baseball fields in Tennessee, one in New Market and another in Jefferson City.

Where is Morgan Wallen from?

Wallen is a native of Sneedville, Tennessee. He graduated high school from Gibbs High School in Knoxville, where he was a pitcher and shortstop in high school.