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.

Remember that if you have any questions you can hit me up on Twitter @Jeff_Mans:

If you’ve missed any of our previous Training Camp Reports you can find them all RIGHT HERE

 

GAMES TONIGHT

I am looking forward to the start of the NFL preseason tonight as we get six games to check out across the league. For those looking to get their NFL fix or just need a diversion from the scummy water at the 2016 Rio Olympics, here is a quick summary of what games take place tonight:

Redskins @ Falcons – 7 PM ET

Buccaneers @ Eagles – 7 PM ET

Saints @ Patriots - 7:30 PM ET

Panthers @ Ravens – 7:30 PM ET

Jaguars @ Jets – 7:30 PM ET

Broncos @ Bears – 8 PM ET

 

AIN’T THAT A KICK IN THE HEAD

I am not here to be sensitive. I am not here to be nice. I am here writing this article today in order to make you better at fantasy football. So, let me be perfectly clear before I get into my rant that I hope that Steelers TE Ladarius Green is healthy and will be for a long time.

That being said, he needs to get his ass on the football field. It has been one of the biggest mysteries this summer on why Green wasn’t doing as much as running drills in Steelers camp. He had surgery on his foot back in March before signing his deal with the Steelers and thus everyone assumed that it was the reason for him missing OTA’s back in June as well as the start of training camp. But it isn’t his ankle whatsoever that is keeping him off the field.

Ladarius Green is suffering from headaches, the same kind that your old lady comes up with to get out of “sex night.” Evidently Green has been suffering from these headaches ever since signing with the Steelers though he never disclosed that he had any issues before he inked his deal that included a $4.75 million signing bonus.

Listen, I don’t know what is going on with Green or these supposed headaches that he claims to have but I really don’t care. Raise your hand if you have ever had to go to work while having a headache. That is a part of life. This is his job. If he has prolonged headaches for what appears to be over three months, then this guy needs to see a team of doctors immediately. The last NFL player to claim headaches as an excuse for not practicing was Percy Harvin. The Minnesota Vikings were so sensitive to Harvin they basically allowed him to not practice and only play on game day for a year and a half. Eventually though, they caught on that human beings can’t have severe headaches for years on end and still be well enough to do every other thing they want in life but go to practice.

The Vikings wound up giving Harvin a series of MRI’s on his brain and determined him to be 100% healthy. Miraculously, his headaches subsided after that and he wound up missing time with leg and soft tissue injuries in the years that followed. Eventually the Vikings, Seahawks, Jets and Bills all got sick of this and released him. Harvin announced his retirement after last season.

Ladarius Green is a mess right now. My guess is that he doesn’t know whether or not he wants to play football anymore. That is a serious problem for a football player because if you aren’t feeling it, that can lead to a lot of things including significant injuries. You know, the ones that do show up on X-rays and MRI’s.

At this point nobody should draft Ladarius Green in any fantasy football league anywhere on earth. He is 100% toxic and could announce his retirement or be cut from the Steelers by the time you even read this article. If you trace back Green’s time in the league he has had several opportunities to step up and seize a larger role within the Chargers offense. Each time though, something would happen where he would suffer an injury and not be able to make good on the raw talent he possesses. Over the years we’ve all looked the other way and even made excuses for him. But here we are again and the Steelers are furious that their investment in a replacement for recently retired Heath Miller could be a total loss. Look at other players such as Kyle Rudolph, Dwayne Allen, Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham, Jason Witten, Zach Miller, Gary Barnidge and even the injured Tyler Eifert over Green in any format you are playing in this season.

 

SO MANY RB’s

You’ve likely heard by now that Seahawks RB Christine Michael is having an inspired camp this year. Michael of course was cut by the team at the end of camp in 2015 and only brought back in desperation late last year when the team was decimated by injuries.

But offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell praised Michael this afternoon saying that the 25 year old former second round pick was indeed “a changed man.” Evidently, Michael has been a relentless worker this time around which is a great departure from a player that hadn’t wanted to put in the time just one year ago. A season of being passed around the NFL and almost seeing the door slam on a brief career just might do that to a man.

The problem with Christine Michael’s fantasy outlook is that there is a lot of competition for touches in this Seahawks backfield. The team drafted three running backs this spring in order to ensure they found a viable replacement to Marshawn Lycnh, the focal point of this offense each of the past four seasons. He is in competition with last year standout Thomas Rawls who is coming off of an ankle injury, third round pick C.J. Prosise who has not been practicing due to a hamstring injury, fifth round pick Alex Collins who has flashed great inside running ability so far and seventh round pick Zac Brooks.

The acknowledgement from the coaching staff that Michael is taking this opportunity seriously and doing well in camp is tremendous news for the young man. But it is pretty clear that he is not the best player in this RB competition and with so many quality options his chance to be a contributor is slim. There is of course a chance that Michael indeed wins the starting job here coming out of camp but I’d say that’s a long shot at best. He will likely be the second or third string runner and a guy that you eventually pluck off of waivers but not someone who has earned our attention on draft day at this point.