Dallas Cowboys – Jaydon Blue
The Cowboys’ rookie running back caught some negative rumors over the weekend and even took to social media to reassure his doubters that he’d quiet the noise. Blue has every opportunity in the world to leap up the Cowboys’ running back depth chart this summer, if he puts in the work. His 127th overall ADP on Yahoo is still reasonable, as you can just drop him if he doesn’t earn an early-season role. His range of outcomes is quite wide — a possible value starting back to a healthy scratch on game day — and we should get some clues as to which path he’ll wander in the coming weeks.
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New York Giants – Cam Skattebo
I’d imagine that the Giants enter training camp with an open mind as to who will start at running back between Skattebo and last year’s rookie, Tyrone Tracy Jr. Odds are that this ends up being some form of a committee, which would make both guys tough to start on an offense not projected to score many points. Not to mention, veteran Devin Singletary is still on this roster.
If Skattebo has a great camp, he could push Singletary off the roster but that’s being treated far too much as a given right now in the fantasy streets. A three-way split backfield in New York would be an impossible puzzle to solve with no good, rewarding picture at the end.
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Philadelphia Eagles – Will Shipley
The Eagles are set at all the skill position spots and only have a right guard vacancy on their much-praised offensive line. We don’t have much fantasy mystery with this squad. The one man to watch may be someone most gamers hope to see very little of in 2025, because Shipley getting run would mean something happened to Saquon Barkley. While we don’t wish injury on anyone, it is critical to know who is the next man up for an Eagles offense that has a strong rushing ecosystem and a lead back who touched the ball over 400 times last year.
Washington Commanders – Deebo Samuel Sr.
I don’t have a strong stance on how Samuel will perform with the Commanders this season. I view him as a player in serious decline but believe how he will be deployed as a short-area and screen-based threat in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense could help stave off the cliff. His ADP of 103rd overall doesn’t require you to take a strong stance one way or the other. It’s worth tracking how he looks and is deployed in training camp to determine if he’s worth taking a chance on in the later rounds.
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Chicago Bears – Luther Burden III
I hate when rookie wide receivers miss time in their first offseason. It’s just so easy to fall behind. Burden missed almost all of the Bears’ offseason to this point after a soft tissue injury early in rookie minicamp. However, he has every opportunity to change the course of his rookie season and make up ground if he’s able to fully participate in training camp. Burden has a chance to earn a big role and shake up the Bears’ wide receiver room. If he’s slow to get rolling early in his first season because he’s still working back, there may not be much playing time behind DJ Moore and Rome Odunze in what should be a 12-personnel-heavy offense.
Detroit Lions – Tate Ratledge
The Lions are one of the teams with a pretty set-in-stone group of skill-position players, and most fantasy gamers are concerned with what the unit will look like without Ben Johnson calling the plays. However, the offensive line got a big shakeup when All-Pro center Frank Ragnow retired last month. Detroit wasn’t totally caught off guard here and are set to have rookie guard Tate Ratledge slide over to start at center. Not only is Ratledge a rookie but he didn’t play the position in college. His progress at the spot is a significant pivot point for how this offense will perform this season.
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Green Bay Packers – Matthew Golden
The Packers’ passing offense would be most dangerous if Golden and Jayden Reed were the top two guys in the pecking order and on the field for over 75% of the snaps every week. This team has leaned more into a rotation approach the last two seasons and the receiver room is still quite crowded on paper. Golden needs to have a great camp to solidify himself as the starting flanker and push some challengers to the side.
I think we’re all over-indexing on how run-heavy the Packers were last season. It’s created some real possible value with both Reed and Golden.
Minnesota Vikings – J.J. McCarthy
Total layup here; you can argue that McCarthy might be the most important player to watch in any camp this summer. The second-year quarterback didn’t play as a rookie after a season-ending injury in August and now inherits a playoff-hopeful team with a fantastic offensive ecosystem. After upgrades made to the offensive line, you can argue Minnesota is even better set up for success in 2025 than last year. While Sam Darnold wasn’t as good as his stats indicate, he still led one of the most productive pass games in the league. We should be rightly glued to every McCarthy rep this summer to see if he can come close to matching that production in his first year as the starter.
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Atlanta Falcons – Michael Penix Jr.
We got a brief look at Penix in the final three games of last season. The product on the field was a bit volatile as his accuracy concerns reared their head but he also produced some highlight-reel moments. Penix’s progress in his first full season as the starter will matter a ton to RB Bijan Robinson and WR Drake London, both of whom leave fantasy drafts quite early. Penix’s arm strength can help this scoring unit reach a ceiling they haven’t touched yet.
New Orleans Saints – Chris Olave
Olave is one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL on a per-route basis since he entered the NFL. He’s just missed time with concussions and played in slow-paced offenses that don’t run a ton of plays. Kellen Moore’s offense will fix the latter, as he routinely calls fast-paced units. However, we should use training camp to track the reports on Olave’s health and role in the offense. There’s a chance he is featured in ways that will create more layup throws than he’s used to seeing so far in his career.
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We can’t know how the health issues will play out until we get to game day but training camp can still be a useful fact-finding mission for a talented wide receiver fantasy managers aren’t drafting anywhere close to where he’s gone the previous two seasons.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Emeka Egbuka
We already got a pretty substantial clue in the Bucs’ wide receiver room, as Chris Godwin is still working his way back to participate fully in training camp. Any absence from the big-name Bucs wideouts would create an opportunity for Egbuka to make strides forward. He appeared completely buried when originally drafted by Tampa Bay but there’s more of a path to immediate playing time than it seems on the surface, even if he does settle in as the WR3. Egbuka has drawn rave reviews in Tampa so far, and if that momentum continues, he’ll be a fine bench player in fantasy with the upside to crack starting lineups if Godwin or Mike Evans miss any time.
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Carolina Panthers – Tetairoa McMillan
Rookie receivers are usually one of the best discount targets to take in fantasy football but depending on your draft room, it might be tough to get any such bargain for McMillan this year. The Panthers’ rookie leaves the board at 84th overall in Yahoo drafts right now but he goes closer to 50th overall in best ball drafts. If McMillan has a strong summer, there’s a chance he climbs closer to that true WR2 designation by the time August comes to a close. No matter what, McMillan’s ADP implies he’s the Panthers’ clear WR1 and a Day 1 starter at the X-receiver spot. I’m betting that’s the case but we can use training camp to confirm that for certain.
Los Angeles Rams – Kyren Williams
We’re in the second straight offseason of fantasy analysts projecting a rookie back nipping at the heels of Williams, with Jarquez Hunter playing the role Blake Corum held last season. I’m open to Hunter or even Corum mixing into this offense more because Williams wasn’t all that explosive last season and left some big plays on the field. However, we have little to no real indication from this team that they want to minimize Williams’ role as the workhorse back. That could change over the next month, which would then make Williams’ RB12 ADP a little tough to stomach. For now, it’s nothing more than a theoretical worry.
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Arizona Cardinals – Marvin Harrison Jr.
We’ve talked about Marvin Harrison Jr. needing to see his deployment mixed up a little for the last 10 months after he played almost all of his rookie season as an X-receiver with a vertical-based route tree. Now, we’re about to enter the time of the calendar where we might finally get some clues in discovering whether any change will likely occur. I want to read reports of Harrison moving around the formation, being weaponized with motion and taking reps in the slot. It isn’t the only domino that needs to fall in order for Harrison to unlock his ceiling but it’s a key first step.
San Francisco 49ers – Ricky Pearsall
Pearsall is one of my favorite breakout candidates after he finished last season dominating man coverage and playing so well in a multi-dimensional role for the 49ers. With Brandon Aiyuk coming back from a major injury (and as of yet without a timetable), Pearsall is in a fantastic position to earn a ton of targets on an offense we know will be hyper-productive. However, he needs to be healthy and participate in camp to come through on that promise. Pearsall is currently on the active/PUP list but can be removed at any time. Let’s hope he gets rolling soon and has a much cleaner summer than last year, as he’s one of my favorite late-round wide receiver targets.
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Seattle Seahawks – Kenneth Walker III
Walker is by no means some screaming sleeper with a 45th overall ADP and an RB16 consensus ranking for most of the summer. However, there’s room for upside as a back going outside the top 15 at the position. The Seahawks’ run game should see a boost with Klint Kubiak taking over for Ryan Grubb as the offensive coordinator, along with improved play likely coming along the offensive line. The starting running back for this team could jump to clear RB1 status and be a significant win for those who take a chance. We just need to confirm in camp that Walker has a commanding hold on the lead back role, which is what early ADP suggests with Zach Charbonnet going outside the top 110 picks overall.
