NFL Training Camp is a busy time of year. This is when the coaches implement their system, playbooks are drawn up and every position on every team is up for grabs. Injuries are as common as practice cones and tackling dummies. If you blink, you could just miss the preamble to a breakout season. Fortunately, I’ll be keeping up with all of it in order to ensure Fantasy Alarm Nation stays in the know all summer long.
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If you’ve missed any of our previous Training Camp Reports you can check them all out RIGHT HERE.
WHO STARTING?
So, today everybody seems surprised by the fact that Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert are splitting first team reps at 49ers camp. But aren’t any of you suspicious on why Kelly chose the 49ers over other suitors this offseason? Aren’t you surprised that Colin Kaepernick is still on the 49ers roster after all of the trade talk this offseason?
I’ve been screaming about this since Chip Kelly became the head coach of the 49ers back in January. There is just no way that he runs through an entire training camp, preseason and any regular season games and thinks that Blaine Gabbert is better for his offense than Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick is the absolute poster boy for what Kelly likes to do. He is an uber athlete with running ability, a big arm and ability to improvise when things break down. As long as Kap is healthy he will be the starting QB for the 49ers for the majority if not the entire 2016 season.
I’ve had Kaepernick ranked above Gabbert by a significant margin this entire offseason because quite frankly he is a far superior fantasy player than Gabbert is. Chip Kelly is not a conservative type of coach either. Sure, he wants all of his QB’s to demonstrate that they will not be turnover prone but that can be said for every coach in the NFL. For right now, I’d strongly recommend fading the entire 49ers QB situation. But for those of you in two QB or superflex leagues, Kaepernick is a much better late round selection than Gabbert is in the later middle rounds.
Well, That Was Fast
I guess Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins had a change of heart on Saturday night. Reports are that Hopkins will rejoin his teammates on Monday at Texans camp. He’ll talk to the media on Sunday afternoon then hold a press conference on Monday as well.
This is just another reason to like DeAndre Hopkins more. As I mentioned in yesterday’s training camp blog, a holdout can be quite detrimental to a football team especially when that player is so reliant on another for his success. What Hopkins did here is make a statement and let the organization (and other organizations) know that he is unhappy with his contract. But he isn’t going to let that ruin his or his teammates season. That is the mark of a true professional and something we don’t see a lot of is professional sports today.
Speaking Of Contracts
The Patriots and Rob Gronkowski have entered contract extension negotiations as camp began in Foxborough. Gronk’s agent Drew Rosenhaus was seen talking with both Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft. Not many agents have direct access to either of these gentlemen but when you represent the best tight end in the game I suppose they will begrudgingly respond to your advances.
The Patriots do not do much contract negotiating once the players take the field but they have granted several player extensions during training camp over the past few years. Gronk is going to get his money but it was a curious add this offseason when the Pats traded for Martellus Bennett. Sure Belichick likes having depth at each position but this moved seemed to reek of not having faith that Gronkowski will stay on the field for all 16 games. That is something he hasn’t done since 2011.
Either way, Gronk is the top TE in fantasy football by a wide margin and on my board he is a sure fire first round pick. The depth at the TE position is strong this year but that also means taking on a lot of risk with players who just have no chance at being consistently productive. I understand not wanting to take a TE with the first pick but considering your chances of getting a TE who will put up 80-1100-8 in the later rounds are slim and none.
Injuries
Odell Beckham Jr. was involved in a collision with newly acquired CB Janoris Jenkins during a passing drill at Giants camp this morning. Jenkins came down hard on OBJ’s left ankle/foot causing him to scream out in pain and limp off of the practice field. Trainers worked on him for a while and he did try and run around in drills after that but was eventually seen riding to the locker room. He did not return.
UPDATE: Beckham evidently suffered a cut to his ankle from Janoris Jenkins spike that dug into him during their collision. OBJ talked to reporters after the game and claimed that he was fine and it was just “a little bloodshed” which is perfectly normal. He should be good to go by Monday’s practice.
The Texans have already been crushed by J.J. Watt’s back surgery and then DeAndre Hopkins brief holdout but they now have another concern along their offensive line. Starting right tackle Derek Newton was carted off of the practice field during Texans practice this afternoon. There doesn’t seem to be much information concerning the nature of the injury or how it happened so we are a little unclear at this point. Newton graded out at the 15th best OT and third best RT in the NFL last season according to ProFootballFocus so this could be a significant deal if he were to miss any time.