NFL Training Camps are kicking off around the league, which means a few different things. First, our Hot Best Ball Summer is finally here. But most importantly it means that our drafting environment is about to hit a bunch of turbulence. Training camp brings a truly endless amount of player hype, practice reports, snap counts, target shares, coach quotes and beat writer speculation that has us drinking from a firehose from now until the season.
With that comes a ton of market movement both with risers and fallers. In an ideal world, we’d get out ahead of the players who start steaming up draft boards during this camp cycle and get as much exposure as we can at the best prices rather than reacting to the news and chasing guys up.
Drafting thousands of best ball teams every summer for a half decade now gives us the experience and knowledge to understand the types of players who rise. Young players, often rookies, are the clear and obvious example. Most rookies are clouded in some type of uncertainty until they get to camp, whether that be their role, talent, depth chart placement, etc. That uncertainty can quickly get cleared up and make it clear and obvious to everyone that the ADP for that player is flat out wrong.
This can also occur with other cohorts of the player pool, however. Veteran players on new teams, ambiguous backfields without a clear pecking order, and players with injury concerns can all also rise extremely quickly with positive news in training camp.
Below you’ll see each of these “buckets” of players that I am currently hammering in my drafts to try to get out ahead of potential rises with positive reports in camp, followed by a quick honorable mention section for players who probably deserve to be mentioned but may fall slightly behind the others on the list.
Players I’m Drafting in Every Draft Before Training Camp
Rookies
Omarion Hampton, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
I am sure you saw this one coming given Hampton is the cover boy of the article, so we might as well lead off with him. Hampton was the only non-Ashton Jeanty RB in a loaded RB class to be selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He posted elite production at UNC, broke out as a sophomore, ran a sub 4.5 40 yard dash at 220 pounds and showed a high level pass game skillset as both a receiver and pass protector. PlayerProfiler’s best comp for him is Jonathan Taylor. Seems good!
But as the Chargers kick off training camp, Najee Harris is not present. As you probably know, Najee suffered injuries to his eye in a fireworks incident on the 4th of July. Another individual lost fingers in the incident. Reports are sort of all over the place on Najee, but even if Najee ends up being fine, I expect Hampton to rise, and rightfully so. Every day Najee misses is another opportunity for Hampton to take more of the backfield starting day one, and that’s huge for a rookie RB still available in the 40s of ADP.
Travis Hunter, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Shoutout to me, but I wasn’t drafting Travis Hunter at his early summer ADP in the 40s. I suspected we’d get a fall in price and eventually be able to pounce. That time has now come. His ADP is in the 60s on DraftKings and near 55 on Underdog.
It’s impossible to say exactly what will happen with Hunter, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, but the price has gotten to a point where the juice is more than worth the squeeze. And that’s particularly true because he is the clearest example of a rookie who will get hyped to the freaking moon during camp. We’ve seen the fall, but a rise is almost inevitable, even with questions around is real offensive role looming.
Jalen Royals, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
I won’t belabor this one too much, as I’ve discussed Royals in about every recent live stream, article and even in conversations in our discord. With the recent Rashee Rice guilty plea, the door is open for Royals to earn a real role far quicker than we expected just days ago. I am a firm believer in his talent, and the fit within the Chiefs offense is also ideal. I moved him WAY up in our rankings.
Post Hype Sleepers
Keaton Mitchell, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Keaton popped some big plays in a tiny role as a rookie in 2023, but unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury (ACL tear) that year. The excitement still lingered heading into last year despite his injury, but he simply was never healthy enough to make an impact in his first year post-ACL tear.
The ECU grad is fully healthy now, and he’s even proclaimed he “feels better than he did as a rookie“. That seems pretty good for a back who ran a 4.37 40 at the combine and dominated at a young age at a poor East Carolina program.
It’s a bit of a weird backfield with Derrick Henry and Justice Hill, but Henry is another year older, and Hill is ultimately just a passing down back at this stage. Keaton has the ability to pop in a bit role even with both healthy, as he can be a weapon both as a change of pace back and on manufactured touches in the pass game. But if something were to happen to someone like Derrick Henry, even if just for a game, Keaton has the upside to win us tournaments and the field hasn’t gotten back on board.
Jermaine Burton, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
I was driving the Andrei Iosvias bandwagon for all of last summer, but we’ve parked that bus heading into 2025 and hopped over to the next stall. Burton’s checkered history of attitude issues were an inevitable roadblock for his rookie year role, which led to the Bengals continually playing Iosivas despite a total inability to be a difference maker on offense. Burton has reportedly committed himself to the process this summer, drawing rave reviews early in the offseason cycle for his performance, professionalism, work ethic, etc.
That’s all I really needed to hear given the upside of the Bengals passing game, the potential contingent value of a talent like Burton, and the potential for him to simply take the WR3 job by the horns this summer with a strong camp. I think he can outperform Iosivas and quickly go from undrafted to the steamiest late round WR on the board given the market’s excitement for him last summer as a rookie.
Vets & Ambiguous Backfields
JK Dobbins, RB, Denver Broncos
I love RJ Harvey, but we are human beings capable of nuanced thought, which means I also love JK Dobbins! Dobbins is one of my favorite (non-rookie) bets for a continued rise up draft boards in camp. He is fresh off a really solid season in 2024, and you can just hear the “Dobbins is running with the 1s” coming in camp from a mile away.
The range of RB just ahead or next to Dobbins in drafts is pretty much all murky options, and Dobbins has always been extremely talented. Injuries have derailed his career, but he is healthy now and is very likely to perform well at camp in an RB friendly offense. He’s the perfect kind of RB pick with his combination of standalone value and elite contingent value upside in a great offense.
Stefon Diggs, WR, New England Patriots
We just got reports that Diggs will NOT start camp on the PUP list. This was a bit shocking, but I imagine it’s going to take our opponents some time to realize how impactful that news is. Most of the reason Diggs has been priced the way he has is because of the injury concerns with an ACL tear in 2024.
He was productive in a shockingly poor Texans passing attack before his injury last year, and he projects as the clear lead receiver in a potential breakout offense in New England. I can just see the “WR1” tweets coming from the Patriots account as Diggs catches passes at camp from Maye, or clips of him running without a knee brace.
Honorable Mention
Emeka Egbuka – he shined in OTA’s and will likely continue to do so, plus the Godwin health could create a riser here.
Tre Harris – Similar to Royals, I don’t need to mention him much more this summer. But Harris is getting some strong reviews early, avoided the holdout and, maybe most importantly, Mike Williams retired from football.
Luther Burden – Burden’s price has continued to plummet, especially on DK, but he signed a fully guaranteed contract and the door is open for him to pop in camp.
Braelon Allen – It has been hinted by Jets folks that Braelon could play the David Montgomery role in this Jets offense with Aaron Glenn coming over from Detroit. Yes, those kind of comps are often lazy, but no it doesn’t mean Braelon is potentially very undervalued. He fits well as the hammer in the Jets backfield next to Justin Fields, and he’s also the kind of specimen that can show well at camp, especially for a new coaching staff with no ties to the past pecking order.
Jacob Cowing – Let’s dig deep here for our last guy. Ricky Pearsall was placed on PUP to start camp with his hamstring injury. Jauan Jennings has demanded a new contract or a trade, and Brandon Aiyuk is still recovering from his knee injury. That is going to give a TON of opportunity for other Niners WRs to pop, and it’s even possible Jauan does land elsewhere to open up a huge role in the WR room here. Cowing had a bagel of a rookie year, but he’s a talented slot style receiver who can fit the YAC style scheme of Kyle Shanahan.
