Fantasy Football Translation Guide: Decoding Training Camp News
Summer is flying by, and before you know it, fantasy football draft season will be here. As exciting as that is, fantasy managers first have to survive the chaotic stretch that is training camp and preseason. It is a time filled with optimism, anticipation, highlight-reel catches, glowing coach quotes, and if we are not careful, plenty of overreactions.
The goal of this article isn’t to tell you to ignore training camp—quite the opposite. The weeks leading up to the regular season provide valuable information that can help identify breakouts, busts, depth-chart changes, and new opportunities. The challenge is separating meaningful news from the noise.
Note: To get a full view of what to watch for from all 32 teams during training camps, make sure to check out Matthew Betz’s 32 Fantasy Football Storylines article.
As July turns to August, we will be flooded with highlight videos, beat reporter observations, coach speak, official depth charts, and preseason performances. Some of it will matter. Much of it will not. Not all information this time of year is created equal. Learning how to translate that information through a fantasy football lens can help you avoid chasing hype, overreacting to bad news, and making costly draft-day mistakes.
Broadly speaking, we can categorize the preseason news into one of two buckets. Either positive news to target a player, or negative news that makes you want to avoid a player. However, it isn’t presented so straightforwardly, and typically requires translation to become actionable for fantasy football. Let’s take a look at both types, starting with the positive.
Positive News: Translating the Hype
Optimism is typically the default setting during training camp. Coaches praise players, teammates rave about each other, and beat reporters highlight the most exciting moments from practice. These are usually not lies, per se, but it is often in the best interests of these sources to inflate expectations. Far too often, fantasy managers have a habit of turning encouraging updates into guaranteed production. Here are some examples of common puff pieces and positive storylines you will see every summer, and how to translate them for fantasy football.
“Best Shape of His Life” / “Ahead of Schedule”
Few phrases have lost more meaning than “best shape of his life” and “ahead of schedule.” It is certainly positive news when a player is feeling healthy and explosive, but it should also be the expectation. After a grueling NFL season, players spend months recovering, rehabbing, and training specifically to arrive at camp in peak condition. If someone isn’t in great shape by July, that’s the real story.
When it comes to injury recovery, “ahead of schedule” is the new “on time”. Initial recovery timelines are typically conservative, and with medical recovery and rehab advancements, players commonly meet or exceed the pace. Being ahead of schedule does not necessarily mean a player will immediately return to pre-injury form.
The absence of these positive reports is often more informative than their presence. Even worse, any opposite reports should set off your fantasy alarm bells and prompt you to reevaluate your rankings. Health reports also become increasingly important as camps progress and the regular season approaches.
Fantasy Translation: You do not need to ignore these phrases during the preseason completely, but they should not really move the needle.
Harry How/Getty Images
“Building Chemistry with the QB”
August is a time for teammates to get on the same page, especially when those teammates have changed through the draft, trades, or free agency. As beat reporters, coaches, and the players themselves get acclimated to these players in new uniforms, positive news abounds.
One of the best examples comes from the summer of 2021, when there was a steady drumbeat throughout training camp that Matthew Stafford, who had just arrived in a trade from Detroit, was establishing great chemistry with Cooper Kupp. Although the now-famous “Breakfast Club” meetings did not become public until after Kupp’s breakout was underway, a steady drumbeat of reports throughout August indicated that Stafford and Kupp were developing strong chemistry.
However, we can look to just one year later for a counterexample. When Russell Wilson joined the Broncos in 2022, much was made of his chemistry building with Courtland Sutton, including glowing quotes from both Wilson and Denver coaches. Many in the fantasy community connected the dots and dubbed Sutton “this year’s Cooper Kupp”. It all sounded great, but it only amounted to 829 yards, two TDs, and 8.5 fantasy points/game from Sutton.
Teams want their QBs and pass catchers on the same page, but the kind of rapport you see between the league’s best duos is rarely built in three to four weeks of practices with little to no contact and a handful of preseason game snaps. This type of hype typically comes from coaches or beat reporters commenting on and praising players in new situations, and it’s often overblown. For every Cooper Kupp, we have a Marquez Callaway, Courtland Sutton, Skyy Moore, or Rome Odunze.
Fantasy Translation: Chemistry is an important starting point, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. It can create opportunity, but it’s not a usage or volume guarantee.
Usage
Opportunity often leads to fantasy success, so projecting a player’s usage is a huge part of their evaluation for fantasy football. That is exactly why usage reports can become some of the most overreacted-to pieces of news in August. These reports during the preseason can send a player skyrocketing up draft boards more than any other type. However, it is important to translate what is being reported, why it is happening, and what it means.
The phrase “first team reps” is littered throughout beat reporter notes during preseason. However, there are multiple reasons to temper expectations when it’s reported. Running with the starters tells us the coaching staff wants to evaluate a player; it doesn’t necessarily mean he will receive a starter’s workload once the regular season begins.
Ryan Kang/Getty Images
It is also important to note that veteran players will not need as many reps as new additions. Coaches can get a look at different player groupings while allowing veterans to take it easy ahead of the upcoming season. A backup taking reps with the starters may simply reflect workload management, not a changing of the depth chart. There is no need to run Christian McCaffrey or Saquon Barkley into the ground with never-ending practice reps in August.
Furthermore, the first team isn’t what it used to be. It is rare for the fantasy skill positions (RB, WR, and TE) to play every offensive snap. Three-WR sets, two-TE packages, passing downs, goal-line situations, and third downs all call for different combinations of players. This naturally leads us to the next point in usage reports: roles and packages.
There will also be reports that include phrases like “featured role” or “specific packages” for players. It is good that coaches want to find a way for players to get the ball, but this often turns out to be more limited than we might expect. Curtis Samuel. Kadarius Toney and Taysom Hill could do some unique things, but they were never truly reliable fantasy options.
The pendulum can also swing the other way. Remember when Sean McVay announced that Kyren Williams would serve as the Rams’ punt returner just ahead of the 2024 season? Fantasy managers immediately panicked as Williams’ ADP slipped while Blake Corum‘s climbed. In reality, the announcement never changed Williams’ offensive role. He returned just two punts all season while rushing for nearly 1,300 yards and 14 TDs.
Fantasy Translation: A role is not the same thing as volume. Make sure to ask if the reports indicate more snaps, touches, or targets, or simply imply that the coaches want to use a player creatively.
Highlight Reels
Every August, social media is flooded with spectacular highlight reel plays from training camp. And every year, those video clips irrationally impact fantasy football average draft position. There are countless examples, but my favorite comes from the summer of 2022.
Allen Robinson was coming off an awful season in Chicago, but was given new life after signing with the Rams. Then, training camp began, and Robinson seemed to dominate the Rams’ social media. Nearly every day brought another impressive contested catch, toe-tapping sideline grab, or red-zone highlight that reignited excitement about his fantasy outlook.
Look ma, one hand. 👋
1️⃣ @AllenRobinson pic.twitter.com/Ob3srlhx6u
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 4, 2022
Despite averaging just 5.7 fantasy points per game and finishing as the WR86 in 2021, the steady stream of camp highlights helped push Robinson’s ADP into the WR20 range by peak draft season. It did not work out, as he compiled less than 400 receiving yards on the season and finished as the WR86 for the second consecutive season.
Fantasy Translation: Highlight clips are designed to showcase exceptional moments, not ordinary ones. They do not show the routine reps that came before and after, which likely include incompletions and occasional mistakes. One spectacular catch may indicate that a player is talented, but it doesn’t guarantee the volume that drives fantasy scoring.
Negative News: Translating the Fear
Optimism may be the default sentiment during training camp, but every August also brings its share of concerning headlines. Unlike positive reports, which often fade into the white noise of camp reports, negative news tends to stand out. This makes it easy to overreact. While these reports deserve more attention than routine hype, they still require context. Before fading a player down your draft board, it is important to translate what these headlines actually mean for fantasy football.
Negative Coach Quotes
Football coaches are perfectionists, especially at the highest level that is the NFL. Most of them are also master motivators. While much of that motivation is done on the field or in meetings, they can also send messages through the media.
Whether it is a player’s place on the depth chart, effort in practice, pass protection, or grasp of the playbook, coaches often use the media to reinforce the standards they expect. Those comments can be completely truthful without serving as a prediction of the player’s role as the season progresses. Players can make corrections, gain a better understanding of the playbook, and generally improve with coaching. Coaches push players, and they want the mistakes corrected. Negative comments from coaches should definitely not be ignored, especially if they become repetitive, but they are not an automatic death knell. Public criticism is often part of the coaching process, not a final evaluation.
Fantasy Translation: One negative quote shouldn’t majorly impact your fantasy outlook on a player. Repeated criticism over the same issue, especially if it affects playing time, trust, or a player’s path to the field, is when fantasy managers should start to take more notice.
Practice Mistakes
Mistakes happen—in life and in training camp. It’s one of the reasons training camp and preseason games exist, so that coaching staffs and players can recognize and address mistakes.
Every training camp brings a steady stream of reports about QBs struggling in practice. Beat reporters meticulously track interceptions in 7-on-7 drills, red zone periods, and two-minute situations, often posting running totals after every practice.
These reports can sound ominous, but it is important to remember what training camp is designed to accomplish. Practice is the ideal environment for QBs to push the limits of their arm talent, test timing with receivers, and throw into windows they might never attempt in real games. Training camp INTs do not appear in the standings or the record books, but they often become valuable teaching moments and tell us more about what a QB is willing to try than what he will do once the games count.
Drops mean even less than interceptions. They are descriptive of what happened, but rarely predictive of what will happen in the future. The most famous example comes from Ja’Marr Chase’s first training camp in 2021. His frequent drops were widely reported, and the storyline snowballed after Chase discussed adjusting to the NFL football.
Joe Burrow looking for Ja’Marr Chase in the end zone….. Instead, Vonn Bell gets his second interception of the team period #Bengals pic.twitter.com/dDW40L2mIU
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) August 22, 2021
The panic became one of the defining fantasy storylines of August. His ADP settled at WR27, the 70th player of the board. He immediately quieted those concerns with 101 receiving yards and a TD in Week 1. He finished his rookie campaign as the WR5 and has arguably been the best WR in all of fantasy football ever since.
Fantasy Translation: One bad practice rarely predicts a bad season. What matters is whether the same mistakes become a consistent pattern that could impact coaching trust and playing time. That isn’t usually the case for first-round rookies like Chase, who are given time to develop, but it can be more concerning for players with limited draft capital or a smaller path to earning consistent snaps.
“Official” Depth Charts
Official depth charts are released every August, and panic always ensues. They may be the least predictive piece of information all preseason. Some coaches refuse to list a rookie as a starter until they “earn the role”. Some depth charts are compiled by a team’s PR staff, who may not even consult with the coaching staff. They may not be complete nonsense, but they have little bearing on who will actually see snaps when the real games start.
Fantasy Translation: Do not panic if a player you believe in is buried on the first official depth chart. In fact, it can be used as an opportunity to draft that player at a value.
Conclusion
As you navigate the avalanche of news, social media posts, and podcasts this preseason, make sure to apply all of these translations. The goal is not to ignore preseason information, but rather, to interpret it correctly. Every highlight, coach quote, practice report, and depth chart is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. The best fantasy managers don’t consume more information than everyone else, but they interpret and react to it better. Mastering this can be the difference between building a strong foundation and a house of cards at your fantasy draft.
Now that you are armed with a translator for training camp, you can pair it with Betz’s 32 Fantasy Football Storylines article and, of course, the Ultimate Draft Kit, and dominate your drafts this season. Together, they will help you separate signal from noise and head into draft season with confidence.