NFL training camps are underway, and the start of the 2026-27 NFL season is less than six weeks away. Can you believe it? You readers know exactly what the dog days of August signify: It’s time to get serious about fantasy football prep for redraft leagues.
Lots of news and noise emerges from NFL training camps. There will be some stories and developments that matter, and plenty that don’t. Let’s put that aside for now, since we don’t know what we might hear over the next month or so. As training camps get
underway, here are the stories I’m paying the most attention to, for fantasy purposes.
You can find all of my preseason fantasy content, including preliminary rankings and tiers, at this link.
All fantasy rankings shown are for Half-point PPR, on a points per game basis, and exclude the final week of the season. Average Draft Position (ADP) shown is also for Half-Point PPR, as of August 3.
- Alvin Kamara didn’t retire — Now what? How much Kamara eats into Travis Etienne’s workload is an important question. We may not get much of an answer to this before the season starts, but lots of people expected Kamara to retire, and he didn’t. He’s coming back for at least one more season, on a restructured deal. Is he dust at this point, or can he still be a factor in the passing game and at the goal line? He used to excel at both, and those high-leverage touches are what could be the difference between Top-10 numbers or something a lot lower for Etienne. I’m in on Kellen Moore’s offense in year two, but would have been a lot happier using an early pick on Etienne if Kamara wasn’t hanging around.
2. It’s only August 4, and the 49ers are already banged up. Shocker, right? Are they cursed? Is it the substation? Ricky Pearsall (PCL) is lost for the season. A guy who didn’t miss a single college game in five seasons because of injury will miss 31 across his first three NFL seasons. It doesn’t end there, though. George Kittle (achilles) opened camp on PUP, as expected, newly added Christian Kirk has a calf injury, new addition and future hall of famer Mike Evans has a quad strain, and second round rookie D’Zhaun Stribling has a hamstring issue. Even Kyle Shanahan is injured, after a bad car accident. The team just brought back Deebo Samuel, Sr., but he hasn’t exceeded 75 catches or 1,000 yards since 2021 (and that was his only season hitting those marks).Evans will be 33 on August 21 and missed 12 games with injuries over the last two seasons. Evans isn’t the only old guy. Kittle will be 33 in October, Samuel is 30, Kirk is 29, and Christian McCaffrey is 30. Yikes. And yet, this is an offense that scores and scores…
3. Will Malik Nabers be ready Week 1, and at what strength? This has been one of the most significant fantasy stories all off-season. After months of discouraging news about his recovery from a major knee injury suffered in Week 4 of the 2025 season, which included a clean-up procedure, Nabers didn’t open camp on PUP, and now there’s speculation that he’ll be ready to go Week 1. He’s still at a major discount right now, at an ADP of overall player 39 (WR19). More positive news from camp will continue to push him up. Even if he’s ready to go Week 1, the question will be how close he is to his full strength. It’s often the year AFTER the year after an ACL tear that players get their explosiveness back. Still, Nabers is an elite talent and is already a proven producer at age 23, and if he’s a go to start the season, his ADP should climb and end up no lower than the 2-3 turn. Obviously, a healthy Nabers would be huge for second year QB Jaxson Dart.
4. Are the Cardinals going to trade James Conner or Trey Benson? I’m asking for a friend. Actually, I’m asking for a lot of friends: The entire fantasy community. Overall #3 pick Jeremiyah Love and newcomer Tyler Allgeier should both play a lot of snaps for the Cardinals this season. But what of Conner and Benson? Both are trade candidates, and a running back injury on another team could expedite a move. Love’s ADP is a little rich for me at 31 (RB14). Arizona has the league’s toughest schedule and they’re projected to score one of the lowest point totals for the season. Plus, they had the fewest running back carries in the league last season. The big crowd in the RB room only makes it worse.
5. Will Josh Jacobs suffer any league discipline (or face legal charges)? For now, neither Rashee Rice nor Jacobs is facing a suspension relating to his off-field incidents. The Fantasy community has been watching closely for developments. Rice appears to be in the clear for this season, but the police investigation is still open on Jacobs, and it’s possible he could face a suspension at some point this season. His ADP (RB17, 37 overall) reflects that uncertainty. He finished as the RB6 and the RB9 in 2024 and 2025.
6. Where (if anywhere) will Brandon Aiyuk and/or Keenan Allen sign? Deebo is back with the 49ers as discussed above, and it sounds like Tyreek Hill’s injury recovery timeline won’t allow him to play this year. Stefon Diggs just signed a one-year deal with the Commanders. That leaves the duo above as the biggest names who remain unsigned. Teams that could be in the market: Kansas City, Baltimore, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Buffalo, among others.
7. The progress of players returning from season-ending injuries is always important to monitor as the season approaches. The next six weeks won’t reveal how much Patrick Mahomes or Daniel Jones will use his legs this season, but it should tell us if they’re ready to go Week 1. I’ll be keeping an eye for injury recovery news related to those two, plus Nabers and Kittle who I already discussed, and Zach Charbonnet, Tucker Kraft, Alec Pierce, Michael Penix, Jr., and others who are returning from injuries and surgeries that happened since the start of last season.
That’s it for today. Keep it here for more preseason fantasy content. Coming later this month: Sleepers, and players to target and avoid at ADP.
