Tue Jul 16th 2024

Receiver and Tight End Training Camp Battles

It's the calm before the storm for dynasty managers. Training camps get started next week, which means our phones and Twitter feeds are about to get bombarded with news and hype from training camps. While we must be careful to refrain from believing everything we see and hear, some reports are valuable in helping us know which players are earning roles in their offenses and which may be falling behind.

There are several teams with very crowded wide receiver rooms and some with uncertainty in the tight end room, too. I plan to follow their training camp battles and beat reporters to see if I can discern which players are winning and losing their battles.

In this article, I tell which teams, wide receiver or tight end battles, I'll watch most closely during training camps and preseason games.

Buffalo

• Buffalo blew up their wide receiver room after last season. Khalil Shakir is the only returning receiver who caught a pass from Josh Allen. They added Curtis Samuel, Chase Claypool, Mack Hollins, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (MVS) in free agency and drafted Keon Coleman. Now they have the most uncertain wide receiver rooms in the league. Shakir is sure to be a starter, given his experience with the system, at least at the beginning of the season. Samuel has the most NFL production of any of the veterans, so he's a lock to be a starter. Keon Coleman has the highest draft capital, but reports from OTAs said that he was falling behind because he was having trouble grasping the system. MVS is a one-trick pony and was just brought in to give them a speed guy. Hollins is a career JAG (just a guy), and Claypool has been bounced from teams since Pittsburgh traded him to Chicago. The battle for the WR-3 role is up for grabs to start the season, and by mid-season, any of the wide receiver positions could be overtaken by one of the other receivers. Buffalo will focus much of their passing game on Dalton Kincaid and James Cook, so there may not be a reliable fantasy starter in this wide receiver group. The biggest X-factor is Coleman. Will he be a breakout or a bust?  I was much lower on him than other dynasty managers, so I don't have any shares of Coleman. He has as great of an opportunity as any rookie receiver, but he needs to pick up the offense, get on the field, and demand targets to make an immediate impact. I'll look carefully at reports from camp to see if he's picking things up and translating his physical talent to on-field production. I also want to look carefully at reports about who Josh Allen seems to favor most between Samuel and Shakir.  My bets are on Samuel, and I am glad to have him on one of my teams in a deep 14-team league, where he will be in my starting line-up in week one. It's a mess in Buffalo, and it might not matter if Coleman can't break out and the passing game is run through the tight ends and running backs.

New England

• A close second to Buffalo is New England, which has a mix of young and old players battling for starting roles on a brand-new offense. Kendrick Bourne and Juju Smith-Schuster were on the team last year, as was Demario Douglas, who had a modestly impactful rookie season last year. The Patriots added K.J. Osbourn in free agency and drafted Jalen Polk and Javon Baker. The Patriots have been terrible at drafting wide receivers, as evidenced by their roster still having Kayshon Boutte and Tyquan Thorton. Still, Douglas popped a bit last year, and the new coaching staff and general manager selected Polk and Baker, so there's hope for those three. Given their youth at the position, Bourne and Douglas should start the season as wideout and slot receivers, but the other wideout slot is open for someone to take. Given his draft capital, Polk will get the first shot, and I expect him to quickly become a starter. The question is, when could Polk and Baker take over Bourne's role? By the end of the season, I believe they will, and the Patriots will have two rookies and a second-year receiver to develop alongside their rookie quarterback, Drake Maye. During OTAs, various reports came out stating that each of the young guys had great practices or were the best receivers on the field that day. That's what I want to hear from training camp, too. I hope to hear that the young guys are proving capable of pushing the veterans aside as New England starts a new era. Their wide receiver room is one to follow during training camp.

Pittsburgh

• George Pickens is the new top dog in Pittsburgh, and his target share will grow significantly this year. The battle for the WR-2 role is what's unsettled. Van Jefferson seems solidly placed in the opposite wideout position, but he's had a very unproductive start to his career and will be a full-time starter for the first time in his career. The Steeler's slot receiver role is what's most up for grabs between rookie Roman Wilson and a third-year player who has yet to produce Calvin Austin. The slot receiver could easily become Russell Wilson's second favorite target, so that's a battle to monitor during training camp. If Wilson immediately impresses in training camps, that spells the end of Austin's dynasty value. I added Austin and Jefferson to several of my dynasty rosters this offseason to see if either can emerge as a reliable fantasy receiver in deep leagues. I hope by the end of the preseason, I know which one to keep or cut before the season starts. Arthur Smith loves to run the ball and target tight ends, so Pat Freiermuth could become the second most targeted player next year, making the other wide receivers completely unreliable. That's what I expect to happen, but I will still watch this training camp battle closely to see if I am wrong. It would be wise to hold onto one of my Jefferson and Austin shares.

Denver

• Besides Courtland Sutton, the wide receiver and tight end rooms are wide open for positional battles. Four wide receivers are battling for two starting roles. There's rookie Troy Franklin, second-year Marvin Mims, veteran free agent signing Josh Reynolds, and oft-injured Tim Patrick. This battle is a wide-open competition, so I will pay attention to every training camp report I can find in Denver. Mims proved little in his rookie campaign but wasn't a total bust. Franklin has the next best draft capital and college rapport with Bo Nix if he wins the job. Josh Reynolds, whom this coaching staff signed in the offseason, and Tim Patrick, in spurts, have looked better than all of these players but can't stay healthy; Reynolds and Patrick are likely on many dynasty waiver wires right now. If they get hype during training camp or report say the younger players are struggling, I'd like to add Reynolds or Patrick to my rosters. This coaching staff drafted Mims and Franklin so they will get every opportunity to succeed first, but if they struggle, the vets can step right into their spots. I'll also pay close attention to Denver's training camp for the tight ends. Greg Dulcich has fallen out of favor with coaches after two injury-riddled years. Adam Trautman, who coach Sean Peyton drafted in New Orleans, appears to be their starting tight end. Coach Peyton hyped up Lucas Crull during OTA's. I've added Trautman to a few of my dynasty teams this offseason, and I am prepared to drop Dulcich from my squads when dynasty cut day comes unless I hear glowing reports from training camp about his health and performance.

Las Vegas

• The most painful pick in the NFL draft last year was when the Raiders selected Brock Bowers. That's because I have so many shares of Michael Mayer. I'm hoping we hear training camp reports about the Raiders running a lot of two-tight-end sets and using Bowers as more of a slot receiver. That's what I need to hear in order to feel confident holding onto my Mayer shares. Devante Adams and Jakobi Meyers have the wideout roles locked down, but the slot role is open for the taking if the Raiders want to let Bowers fill it. Tre Tucker is the receiver most likely to fill the slot role. I hope he shares it with Bowers. I'll follow training camp reports to see more about his usage. The Raiders want to run the ball into the ground, so it might not matter much anyway.

L.A. Chargers

• The Chargers did what the Bills did by cleaning out their receiver room.  They traded Keenan Allen and let Mike Williams sign with the Jets, leaving a ton of vacated targets and production. Joshua Palmer, though never super productive, is their most experienced receiver. He'll likely share the starting roles with Quentin Johnson, who had a terrible rookie season, and Ladd McConky, their second-round draft pick in this year's class. The Chargers drafted Brenden Rice and Cornelious Johnson in the 7th round of the draft and signed D.J. Chark to compete with all of the young guys. If Johnson continues to bust, Chark could easily fill his role, but it's Johnson's to lose. Dynasty managers need to hear good reports from training camp about Johnson's improvement. McConkey should be great, but as Johnson showed us last year, not every receiver drafted high makes it in the NFL. Palmer is this group's only completely safe receiver, given we've seen him produce at a modest level behind Allen and Williams over the last three years. Jim Harbaugh is a run-first coach, so expectations are already tempered for these pass catchers, but news during training camp about which of this group is standing out will still be valuable information for dynasty managers. I'll also pay attention to which of their free-agent signings at tight end is doing the best. Will Dissly and Hayden Hurst will also battle for a starting role there.

NY Giants

• The Giants drafted Malik Nabers to be their WR-1, and he will be immediately. It's the other wide receiver spots that remain open for battle. Jalin Hyatt had some excellent moments last season in his rookie year. When healthy, Wan'Dale Robinson has had some great games, too. Darius Slayton has also had productive games and was re-signed by the team this offseason, so they like him. Robison is most suited for the slot role, so I think he can lock up that position. Hyatt and Slayton, their downfield threats, will compete for the other wideout role. I expect the Giants to become more pass-heavy with Saquon Barkley gone and with their new first-round weapon, Malik Nabers. If they are more pass-heavy, one or more of these guys will get volume as the WR-2. I'll watch to see who reports saying Daniel Jones favors the most during training camp. I'll do the same when it comes to their tight ends, too. Daniel Bellinger had some excellent games when Darren Waller was injured last season, and now that he's retired, Bellinger is the starter. However, the Giants drafted Theo Johnson, one of the NFL Combine standouts this year.  During OTAs, Lawrence Crager was getting buzz, too. Bellinger should begin the season as their starter, but Johnson or Crager could surpass him during the season if they continue to improve.  I'll keep an eye on the Giants' tight-end competition during training camp. 

Green Bay

• Green Bay has killed it in the NFL draft the last two years and assembled a group of four future stars. We just don't know which one will emerge as the biggest star. Jayden Reed's role seems the most secure in the slot, and with the variety of ways they used him as a rookie last year. It's the wideout roles where two of the three, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, and Dontavion Wicks, will emerge as starters. All three of them have had outstanding moments and games, but they have also, at times, gone silent.  Wicks is behind Doubs and Watson just based on his later draft capital, but he played really well when Watson was injured last year, and Watson is often injured. Doubs has been the most consistent and productive of the three, so I like his odds of holding them off for a starting role. It really comes down to Watson vs. Wicks, so I will pay close attention to training camp reports and Watson's health reports during training camp. This battle could come down to who plays best in the preseason.  If Wicks wins, he'll be one of the sneaker off-the-waiver-wire finds by dynasty managers last year.

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