After months of waiting, NFL Training Camp is finally here!
Every day, the RSJ staff is tracking fantasy football news and highlights from around the league, serving as your lead blockers to fantasy greatness. From viral highlights to familiar coach-speak narratives to season-altering injuries, we’ve got you covered.
Here are some standout fantasy news and notes from training camps around the NFL on August 8.
DeAndre Hopkins must live up to Titans’ pick: “I don’t start nothing I just finish it.”
Hopkins starts the 2023-24 season as a Titan, claiming he chose Tennessee because “he wants to win.” Believing the Titans will be good this season, he may be in the minority, as the team drafted a quarterback for the second year in a row. But now he “must finish it” by living up to those words and be the team’s No. 1 wide receiver.
The 31-year-old wideout is entering his 11th season, choosing Tennessee with the likes of 35-year-old signal caller Ryan Tannehill…or Malik Willis…or Will Levis.
Whoever is under center should no doubt view the five-time Pro Bowler as the team’s No. 1 receiving option. Previously, Hopkins has posted six 1,000-yard seasons as a team’s No. 1 receiving threat. The only real scoring threat to Hopkins will come from running back Derrick Henry.
WR 20-25 is likely where Hopkins will be drafted, but Hopkins taking to Tennessee begs one question. Are the Titans a run-first offense still? Tannehill told NFL Network that Hopkins is at Titans’ training camp in “vintage” form.
Jamaal Williams remains must-draft, must-start running back — for now
Free Agent passing-down back Kareem Hunt remains free.
Williams led the league in rushing touchdowns while in Detroit, technically as a backup, and only has competition from rookie Kendre Miller — who has yet to take an NFL snap — during Alvin Kamara’s suspension. Kamara is also steadily on a fantasy decline over the last few seasons.
Hunt, who was arguably on the most successful committee with Nick Chubb in Cleveland for multiple seasons, walked out of New Orleans without a deal. Not only that, he is heading to Indianapolis, where starting back Jonathan Taylor is away from the team on what the Colts are calling an “excused absence.”
Williams averaged 12.6 points in standard leagues last season, with a lot of his work coming in the red zone. But owners should see his work increase significantly early if New Orleans pegs him as the three-down back during Kamara’s suspension and Miller’s adjustment to the league. Williams also isn’t washed, so depending on his performance over the first month of the season may solidify a similar — or better — spot in a reforming New Orleans offense.
Despite injury, Logan Thomas remains starter in Washington
ESPN’s Commanders’ reporter, John Keim, is referring to Logan Thomas missing another day of camp, this time with a calf injury. Thomas, the projected Washington starting tight end after the team did not draft nor sign one in the offseason, has suffered multiple injuries since 2021.
Thomas has suffered two separate hamstring injuries, an ACL tear and calf injuries since 2021. However, according to The Athletic’s Ben Standig, head coach Ron Rivera holding Thomas out of August practices is out of caution.
Behind Thomas sits John Bates and Cole Turner. Even if his calf injury is only something minor to monitor for now, Thomas did miss three games with a calf injury last season.
OTHER FANTASY NOTES
- The Arizona Cardinals are giving running back James Conner more opportunities as a pass-catching back, Tyler Drake reports.
- Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has missed two consecutive days with an excused absence to get ankle treatment. The Colts expect the absence to continue, the league reports.
- New England Patriots rookie wide receiver Demario Douglas is climbing the depth chart, per multiple sources, and is said to have a real case in making the 53-man roster.
- Myles Jack is getting first-team Eagles’ reps immediately, per Eliot Shorr-Parks.
