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NFL training camps are well underway across 32 teams as we transition to preseason games. And if training camp is school for NFL teams before the 18-week-long exam of the regular season, then we can’t leave school without giving out some yearbook superlatives.
Superlatives are, of course, rampant at this time of year, as training camp is a time to be superlative in our estimation of players and teams. Everyone is deserving of all the awards; every team will win every division. For these superlatives, I went after the true cream of the rising crop: the optimistic Bengals … the ever-dramatic Browns … and of course, the Branson Taylor-Kayode Awosika battle in Chargers camp.
I have 10 fun awards and recognitions to hand out. From “most likely to succeed” to “best shape of his life,” these are the players and teams that have made an impression on me over the early days of 2026 training camp.
Jump to:
Most likely to break your heart
Best vibes | Biggest position battle
Most cursed camp battle
Most likely to succeed with new offense
Most likely to succeed with new defense
Best shape of his life
Day 3 rookie everyone fell for
Busiest medical tent | Preseason MVP
Do I want to be the guy betting against the three-time Defensive Player of the Year and single best defensive player of my (and perhaps any) generation of football? No. But someone has to be the stick in the mud here.
Training camp inevitably generates towering expectations, and the Rams are perfectly primed to stand atop the preseason mountain. Offseason trades for edge Myles Garrett and cornerback Trent McDuffie added star power to a defense punching above its weight in 2025. Sprinkle a little Donald on there, and we have what …? The best defense in football? The best defense of the past decade?
Maybe — but probably not!
First things first: Donald is not yet a Ram, and when he becomes a Ram, it is extremely unlikely he starts out playing 40 snaps per game. He is 35 years old. In the past five seasons, only Cameron Heyward and Calais Campbell have played at least 40 snaps per game as 35-plus-year-old defensive tackles. Widen it to 30 snaps per game, and you catch a John Jenkins year in 2024. Those guys were already at NFL-level conditioning, and it’s going to take Donald (as unbelievably talented as he is) time to get there.
When Donald joins Garrett and McDuffie in the Rams’ astronomical effort to improve their defense, he will do his part elevating them from … fourth in DVOA. The Rams were fifth in defensive success rate and sixth in defensive EPA per drive. This was a good defense last season. I admire the Rams’ acknowledgement that it lacked star power — a fact that did show up in the postseason — and general manager Les Snead’s willingness to take big swings to add blue-chip players to that side of the ball. But it’s inaccurate to represent the Rams as a team that missed out on the Super Bowl because it lacked an elite defense. Los Angeles missed out because the Seahawks were very good and it lost in the brutally thin margins of professional football.
The new additions will give the Rams an edge in the postseason, where elite, field-tipping players really show up in the game-planning process. But the Rams still have to get there, which means quarterback Matthew Stafford needs to stay healthy all season. It means the retirement of offensive tackle Rob Havenstein and potential suspension of Alaric Jackson can’t hurt the pass protection too much. It means 33-year-old Davante Adams and the physical Puka Nacua, who could face disciplinary action because of the lawsuit filed against him in March, must stay on the field, as well.
The NFL is not a run-it-back league. Injuries have too big of an impact in a 17-game season. Schematic changes force too much evolution year over year. And in the case of a defensive tackle returning from a four-year retirement, it simply is unreasonable to “run it back” on his impact. Donald is going to be a rotational player on a great defense, and if he makes just one game-changing play in the postseason, the juice will be worth the squeeze. But the Rams have to get to playoff football first, and he needs to get in a uniform to boot.
The Rams are rightfully a huge preseason favorite, but as Bill Barnwell’s column this week reminds us, their 1-in-8 chance to win the Super Bowl looks bigger now than it is in reality. Don’t let the Reunion Rams break your heart with inflated summer expectations.
Here’s the quick summary:
Nnamdi Madubuike is back practicing after a neck injury threatened his career last season.
No. 1 receiver Zay Flowers got a fat extension worth $34 million per year.
According to ESPN Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley, rookie receiver Ja’Kobi Lane is having a training camp unlike any rookie he has seen in 27 years of covering the Ravens.
Tyler Loop, who ended the Ravens’ season with a missed kick against the Steelers, apparently can’t miss this summer.
New head coach Jesse Minter and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver have the defense humming — but QB Lamar Jackson and the rest of the Ravens’ key offensive players are also gushing about new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
Calais Campbell is back, which is heartwarming.
Even the first big threat to the immaculate vibes — a left leg injury scare for top cornerback Nate Wiggins, who was carted off the field earlier this week — ended OK, as sources told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that testing revealed no structural damage. Training camp vibes have absolutely zero correlation with regular-season wins, of course. But it’s better than having terrible vibes!
Can you name the five players who are competing for starting left guard in the Chargers’ offense? (If you can, seek help!)
They are as follows: rookie Jake Slaughter (a college center), 2022 first-round tackle Trevor Penning (acquired from the Saints last year), second-year pro Branson Taylor (a practice squad player for much of last season), veteran Kayode Awosika and veteran Trey Pipkins III. On Aug. 4, head coach Jim Harbaugh reported he’d like to name a starter after the next 10 practices. That was six practices ago. To this point, no player has taken a lion’s share of the snaps.
Editor’s Picks
Most teams are playing their first preseason game this week; there are plenty of other training camp battles underway across the league and there’s plenty of time to declare a winner here. But any competition of five players indicates that there has been a lack of emergence — that the staff is still fishing for someone to declare themselves a cut above the rest.
This is a particularly big issue for the Chargers’ interior offensive line, which has been notoriously poor in the Justin Herbert era. Last season, after star offensive tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater went down with injuries, the Chargers’ offense became untenable. Herbert was hit 12.9 times per game last season, a preposterously high number usually reserved for true dual-threat quarterbacks, not occasional capable scramblers such as Herbert. New offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel brings a quick-pass offense that should alleviate some of the concerns. But scheme can do only so much to hide a liability at guard on third-and-8.
It’s worth remarking that, while having Alt and Slater back will certainly help, the Chargers’ other two interior positions will also feature new players. Former Patriots first-rounder Cole Strange follows McDaniel from Miami to start at right guard, and Tyler Biadasz (released by the Commanders this offseason) is the veteran at center. Both are improvements from 2025 but still are average starters. The interior will already be the part of the Chargers’ line that opposing defenses attack, and uncertainty at left guard will only expand that bull’s-eye.
For the stakes at play and because of the sheer number of contenders, the Chargers’ left guard spot takes our award for biggest training camp battle. Better luck next year, Bears left tackle.
It is exceedingly unlikely the Browns have a good starting quarterback on their roster. The contenders to start are veteran Deshaun Watson and second-year pro Shedeur Sanders. The last time we saw Watson — who is coming off a torn (and then retorn!) Achilles tendon — play was 2024. He averaged 4.03 yards per dropback that season — 942nd out of 947 quarterbacking seasons (minimum 200 dropbacks) this century. And I’ve never known an Achilles injury to make a quarterback play better.
Sanders’ 2025 rookie season (5.55 yards per dropback) was 755th in the same sample — better, but not anything to write home about. Among 70 rookie seasons since 2010 (minimum 150 attempts), Sanders was 68th in interception rate, 64th in EPA per dropback and 62nd in first down/touchdown rate. This is a small sample, of course. But Sanders was only a fifth-round pick and looked like it when he played last season. The chance that he can elevate his play to an acceptable starting level is mightily thin.
Sanders might have a higher ceiling than Watson, in that he’s a younger player about whom we know less. But Watson, who is in the final year of his deal, carries a (pre-June 1) dead cap hit of $86 million in 2026. That’s a pretty penny. If the Browns can get palatable play from Watson, they’re financially incentivized to keep him for another season and spread the cap hit out even further. So this competition might end up being decided not with on-field performance but rather on financial ramifications.
That feels crummy. But it also might be good news that the competition won’t come down to on-field performance, as both quarterbacks have been less than thrilling. As coach Todd Monken put it after a two-minute drill rife with pre-snap penalties at the end of a recent practice: “That was awful. That was s—ty football.
Anyone else getting the big warm and fuzzies out of Philadelphia? Quarterback Jalen Hurts reportedly looks sleeker and faster, which is a big deal in and of itself. Last season, he had his fewest rushes (105) and rush yards (421) since his rookie season (2020), and when he ran, he produced his lowest yards per carry (4.0). Hurts isn’t the only one reinvigorated in Philadelphia — the new offense under coordinator Sean Mannion is an offense unlike any in which Hurts has played during his NFL career.
Mannion, who coached under Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, is bringing the greatest hits of the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan offense to Philadelphia: under-center alignments, pre-snap motion, wide zone runs, play-action fakes, etc. This offense will also ask Hurts to throw over the middle of the field — something he has largely avoided as a pro but has done with some success so far in camp.
There are two levels to the leap the Eagles could experience under Mannion.
The first is addition by subtraction. The Eagles’ shotgun-heavy, static pre-snap offense could have worked well last season. It worked under Kellen Moore and Shane Steichen in years past. But offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo didn’t have the magic touch of those ex-coordinators (now head coaches), as offensive line injuries and the aforementioned diminished rushing of Hurts hamstrung the offense. Simply by moving on from Patullo and shedding some of the stale approaches of Hurts’ past offenses, the Eagles should play better to their talent level on offense (which is pretty solid, even without receiver A.J. Brown, who was dealt to the Patriots).
The second leap might come if Mannion has the goods as a coach. We don’t know much about the former NFL backup quarterback who entered the coaching ranks in 2024. It might come if a new level is unlocked for Saquon Barkley in an under-center, wide zone rushing attack — that’s new to the running back, just as the play-action fakes and intermediate middle throws are new to Hurts. It might come if sixth-year receiver DeVonta Smith emerges in a new system and out from Brown’s shadow the way Jaxon Smith-Njigba did for Klint Kubiak’s Seahawks last season after the trade of DK Metcalf.
And of course, that leap might come if Hurts takes to the new offense quickly. I cannot think of a modern quarterback who has improved more over his career (college and pro combined) than Hurts. The player who took snaps at Alabama was, at first, not a functional thrower for the college ranks. The young starter for the Eagles was turnover prone, late to respond to pressure and easily fooled by blitz looks. Yet Hurts has become better season over season thanks in part to trimming those aspects of his game in which he struggled, such as intermediate throws. If he’s able to introduce those back into his menu, now as a more seasoned veteran quarterback, he’ll reach another level of quarterbacking.
I came into training camp willing to go either way on the Eagles’ new offensive experiment. But all reports out of camp so far have me leaning positively for 2026.
It’s hard for a defensive tackle to really make his presence felt in training camp. Most reps are not at full speed or taken to the ground, and the quarterback is certainly untouchable. It is a testament then to just how good Dexter Lawrence II has looked in his first season with the Bengals that he is the buzz of camp.
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He isn’t the only one. Edge rusher Boye Mafe is winning against the Bengals’ pair of starting tackles. Safety Bryan Cook is making plays against quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bengals entered the 2026 offseason with one big objective at the top of their to-do list — fixing the defense — and early reports are strong on their efforts.
Of course, this isn’t an entirely new defense, as Al Golden is in his second year running the unit. But with Lawrence, Mafe, veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and second-round rookie Cashius Howell, four of the five leading snap getters on the defensive line might be new players. That has trickle-down effects. It will create a totally new picture for second-year linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter, who both struggled mightily as rookies but now have a functional line to play behind. It will create a new chemistry for 2025 breakout defensive backs Dax Hill and DJ Turner II, as they can play more aggressively in coverage and expect the pass rush to get home after a reasonable period of time.
As such, it seems like a new defense, built over two offseasons rather than one. And Burrow is even talking about his renewed belief in the Bengals’ Super Bowl chances.
Every summer, we hear about numerous players who are apparently in the best shape of their lives heading into the new season. It’s always tough to determine whose best shape of their life is the most best shape of their life. Are you grading against the other players’ best shapes of their lives? Are you grading against each player’s own previous best shape of his life? This is serious work!
I had to give it to Allen. The Jets’ backup running back opened minicamp in June by announcing that he was the “biggest I’ve ever been, the strongest, the fastest.” He even went into greater specifics. “The most lean muscle I’ve had, the lowest body fat. Perfect symmetry in both my legs and arms.” When you’re talking about the best best shape, how can you not give extra points to perfect symmetry?
Allen reportedly got close to 250 pounds this offseason after playing his injury-shortened 2025 season around 240 pounds. That would make him one of the heaviest running backs in the NFL, knocking on the door of Derrick Henry’s 252 pounds.
I would like to give honorable mentions to:
Texans running back David Montgomery, who just happens to be in the best shape of his life in the offseason he gets traded away (love when that happens).
Vikings tackle Christian Darrisaw, who reported he feels the best he has felt “in two years” (he’s a blue-chip talent who has been limited by injury, so I’m rooting for that one).
Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who deserves a podium placement here for his offseason improvements after a disappointing 2025.
Jaguars WR/CB hybrid Travis Hunter, who looks like he has been eating Popeye’s spinach.
Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who has shed weight and put his shoulder injuries behind him in the same offseason he signed a record-setting defensive tackle contract.
It’s impossible to choose between all the Day 3 darlings who are ripping up the second team and forcing their way into first-team reps.
Vikings cornerback Charles Demmings is reportedly making the leap from FCS school Stephen F. Austin to NFL football with aplomb. Bears defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg is wreaking havoc; he picked up American football as a high school sophomore, so his ceiling is enticingly high. Raiders fifth-rounder Hezekiah Masses has broken into the first-team cornerback rotation, and it sounds like the Bengals might have a third receiver in the mix with fourth-rounder Colbie Young.
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But the buzziest Day 3 rookie by far must be Allen, a receiver drafted in the fifth round (No. 176) by the Chiefs. An undersized quickster, Allen (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) figured to fight for returner reps and rotational opportunities behind starting receivers Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Tyquan Thornton. But since Day 1 of training camp, Allen has made plays for Patrick Mahomes. “I think Pat’s got some trust there,” coach Andy Reid reported after the first day of full-team practice in late July.
Allen missed some time because of a left shin injury, but when he returned to camp, he was rotating with Worthy, Thornton and Rice as the top four receivers for Mahomes’ training camp snaps. Allen’s consistent separation against man coverage is of particular note, as Rice has been a great option against zone defenses but far less effective against man coverage over the course of his young career.
It’s worth remarking that the Chiefs are notorious for training camp hype from Day 3 offensive skill position players. Justyn Ross was an undrafted receiver in 2023 with plenty of buzz. Running back Brashard Smith seemed like a shoo-in for passing-down snaps behind Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt. Neither July/August performance materialized into meaningful regular-season snaps, as the Chiefs preferred to lean on veteran players.
Still, training camp is a time for falling for the same gags over and over again. It’s a season of unbridled hope, no matter how many times it burns us. Make sure to grab Allen in the last round of your fantasy drafts this year.
As this week’s viral “Hard Knocks” clip of Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald pulling linebacker Derick Hall out of practice for getting too rough near the quarterback reminds us, the most important part of training camp is emerging from it healthy. To that end, the 49ers — who had the fifth-highest adjusted games lost last season — are once again stumbling out of the gate.
The following 49ers have missed — or are continuing to miss — meaningful time: WR Mike Evans, edge Nick Bosa, RB Christian McCaffrey, RB Kaelon Black, RB Jordan James, RB Isaac Guerendo, FB Kyle Juszczyk, edge Keion White, S Malik Mustapha, DT Gracen Halton, DT Alfred Collins, OL Brett Toth, WR Christian Kirk and WR De’Zhaun Stribling.
And that’s just the little stuff. Tight end George Kittle has yet to practice as he returns from a torn right Achilles, edge rusher Mykel Williams is still on the physically unable to perform list after his 2025 ACL tear, and receiver Ricky Pearsall is out for the season because of another injury to his UCL. You know you’ve had a bad run of luck when there’s a meme account on X of the electrical substantiation next to your practice field, which has been the subject of conspiracy theories regarding the 49ers’ injured players.
The 49ers are projected to have one of the oldest offenses in the league, so nagging injuries were expected — but not this early. Unfortunately, major injury issues always knock a few highly rated teams down a tier before the season even begins (looking at you, Luther Burden III and Coby Bryant with the Bears). That is the concern here in San Francisco.
I’ll tell my grandkids exactly where I was when King dawned on the NFL: driving through the Alleghany National Forest on my way to Bills camp, listening to “Morning Star,” the third book in the Red Rising series (five stars, would recommend).
An undrafted rookie and the Panthers’ QB3, Haynes became the hero of the Hall of Fame game with a winning scamper for six late in the 33-30 victory over the Cardinals. King went 21-for-34 for 180 yards and two touchdowns — no picks! no sacks! — and tacked on another 39 yards and a score on three carries. His performance was so moving that speculation swirled that the Panthers might use him in a Taysom Hill-esque role this season! (He might be the Panthers’ sneak quarterback, as they don’t ask the undersized Bryce Young to do so — but he’d need to be active as backup QB over Kenny Pickett because he can’t go in the game as the emergency No. 3 QB without injuries ahead of him.)
King’s status as preseason MVP — a vaunted and memorable title — is in jeopardy, though, after the hamstring injury he suffered on his game-winning effort. If he can’t go for the rest of the preseason, another September QB3 will rise as the August QB1 of our dreams.
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