Everything that happens during the NFL season evolves from what happens during training camp. It’s more than just jobs that are won and lost or roles that are defined. Training Camp is where the playbook is installed. It is where the players learn the game and how to play together as a unit. Training camp is where Tiki Barber learned to stop fumbling, it’s where Kurt Warner showed he could run an offense and where Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison learned one another’s tendencies. Thus, its where the seeds of a breakout fantasy football season are planted and cultivated.
More recently this is where players like Tyrod Taylor, Thomas Rawls and Kamar Aiken proved they were worthy of expanded roles in their offenses. The expanded roles led to more playing time or in Taylor’s case the starting QB job for the Buffalo Bills. The increase in playing time turned into a breakout regular season that translated into immense fantasy values. Nobody was talking about any of those three at this point last season. But in reviewing my Training Camp Reports from 2015 I had 12 entries discussing one or more of them as players who were on the come.
Training camp is so much more than just where teams come together and players get into shape. It’s a bonding experience for the players. It’s a chance to get away from the distraction of everyday life and do nothing but think and play football. Training camp brings teams closer together or even sometimes draws them further apart. But we see those cracks forming early and adjust our thinking accordingly in order to take advantage in our leagues.
It has been this way throughout time. For those of you who have played fantasy football or just been NFL fans for a while, we can go back and uncover previous fantasy breakouts. If you had paid attention to Training Camp 2010 you would have seen Victor Cruz grab everyone’s attention with some highlight reel catches a year before he broke out in the regular season. In 2003 a little known former college quarterback named Anquan Boldin worked his way into the Arizona Cardinals starting lineup during camp. Heck just three seasons ago we saw a fourth-string running back named Alfred Morris in Washington work his way up the depth chart to become the Redskins starting running back and workhorse. How about Arian Foster who wasn’t even drafted back in 2009 but took advantage of a camp invite by the Texans where he demonstrated a knack for identifying and hitting cut back lanes? He became a top five fantasy running back in each of the next three years.
Two years ago we watched as a little known tight end named Travis Kelce lit it up to the tune of 11-193-2 in the preseason for the Chiefs. I wrote about Kelce and his developing rapport with Alex Smith four times between July 28th-August 10th of 2014’s training camp blog. So, if you were paying attention then, you landed a pretty solid tight end who few had heard of late in your draft.
You may hear other fantasy analysts downplay the impact of training camp. For the life of me I don’t know why they do it but I hear it every year. Maybe they don’t believe that jobs are really at stake? Maybe they think it’s easy to learn an NFL playbook? Or maybe they think that training camp is just a bunch of guys running around getting in shape. It could be, as I say often, that few fantasy analysts have been through a training camp before. They haven’t participated in them and haven’t covered them which is why they don’t understand all that comes out of training camp. But it could be simply because some analysts are lazy. They don’t have access to folks who attend the practices. They don’t investigate each team to uncover those useful nuggets of fantasy worthy information.
As someone who has been to and covered many NFL training camps over the past decade I can assure you that everybody in the NFL wins their job during training camp. Remember, NFL contracts are not fully guaranteed. Even the biggest of superstars go into each summer with something to prove.
Those players who don’t realize their job is on the line are usually the ones who are stunned to be cut at the beginning of September. Tell a player like Montee Ball that it is easy to learn an NFL playbook. Why did this second round pick from 2013 get cut just before the start of the 2015 season? Because he couldn’t pass protect which when you have a 39-year-old quarterback coming off a significant leg injury, is a serious issue. Juwan Thompson an unsigned free agent wound up beating out Ball for the third-string running back job in Denver because if this and went on to win a Super Bowl ring as a result.
The coaching staff has a pretty good idea of what they have on their team and where they fit after organized team activities (OTA’s) and minicamps conclude in mid June. But training camp is where it all comes together. Sometimes a veteran player shows that he has lost a step. Sometimes a young player shows that he can’t adhere to the curfew rules the team establishes for them. Then, sometimes an undrafted free agent like Arian Foster or Kurt Warner trots onto the field and shows that they can play with the big boys too.
Fantasy football is such a competitive game these days and the people in your league are likely just like you in that they are always on the prowl for information. You simply cannot afford to go to your draft and be stunned that a guy like Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas or Colts running back Josh Ferguson are being scooped up in the middle rounds. You also cannot afford to take an early round running back like Jamaal Charles and not select his proper handcuff in Spencer Ware because the last you saw Charcandrick West was Charles’ backup. Mistakes like this will help ruin your season so stay alert and focus. If you’re the last person in your league to realize that the season has already started, you’ve already lost.