Mike Evans landed at #22 on the Fantasy top 50 list.
#1 Fantasy Player.
#2 Fantasy Player.
#31 Fantasy Player.
JJ Watt recently had back surgery & will start camp on PUP list. Should be OK for start of season.
Camp report date: Rookies: July 25; Veterans: July 30.
Camp location: NRG Park, Houston.
Offseason in a nutshell: The Texans came out this March and loudly declared what the rest of the NFL had known for the past two seasons: Our offense is the problem, and we need to fix it. Flash forward three months and the Texans have a new quarterback -- Brock Osweiler -- and theoretically two new starting wide receivers alongside DeAndre Hopkins in Will Fuller and Braxton Miller. The team went younger in the running game with Lamar Miller and gobbled up one of the best interior linemen in the NFL draft, taking Notre Dame's Nick Martin in the second round and slotting him to start at center. On paper, this is a team markedly better than the one that finished 9-7 last season, although some of the teams they beat within the division are markedly better as well.
Player to watch in camp: Outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney: Watching Clowney and J.J. Watt crashing Cam Newton from both sides of the line during a Week 2 Panthers victory (24-17), I became convinced that Carolina could be defeated by a team with good enough speed on the edges. It took Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, of course, but I don't think Clowney/Watt is that far away assuming Clowney can stay on the field for 16 games. Clowney has been ravaged by injuries so far, and it should be fairly easy to tell how his body is recovering early on in training camp. If a veteran is struggling with issues in camp, these are typically ailments that do not get better during the regular season. Clowney is supposedly more determined than ever to earn his No. 1 overall draft status and maybe that means treating or conditioning his body differently during the five-week dark period before training camp started. We are hoping that he does, because this defense could be extremely fun to watch in 2016.
THREE BURNING QUESTIONS:
1. Can the Texans develop some dependable mid-range options outside of Hopkins?
The team had nothing but good things to say about tight ends Ryan Griffin and Stephen Anderson during camp this spring, which is a positive for Brock Osweiler. We're treating Osweiler like a rookie quarterback because based on his in-game experience, he still is. That means we should be focusing as much on his intermediate wide receivers that will help ease the tension early as much as the barn burners that are lining up on the outside.
2. What type of quarterback is Brock Osweiler?
By association, we can say that Osweiler is in the Peyton Manning mold, but what does that really mean? Sure, Osweiler had a first-row seat to Manning's maniacal preparation and all indications are that Osweiler was very well prepared mentally for the early stages of Texans camp. But our best guess is that he will try to be a much more vertical quarterback during his first full year as a starter, which isn't always easy to do. The Texans surrounded Osweiler with great deep-ball receivers despite the fact that some scouts worry about his mechanics when throwing deep. His deep ball accuracy over seven starts was debatable in Denver and, while that can improve over time, can it be good enough to push Houston into the playoffs again during his first season there?
3. Has Xavier Su'a-Filo really improved?
There were few offensive linemen I liked more in the 2014 draft than the guard out of UCLA, but his college tape did not immediately translate into the NFL. The Texans are pumping up their former second-round pick this summer after Su'a-Filo started the final eight games of the season last year to moderate success. Should Su'a-Filo play average to slightly above-average football, this Texans team could be a force to be reckoned with up front. Of course, that also means hoping that Nick Martin has a similar developmental arc to his older brother Zack in Dallas.
Way-too-early season prediction: So much of this depends on Osweiler. The Texans have one of the biggest potential variances in win-loss total out of almost any team I've looked at this offseason. Houston could be 10-6 or 6-10 depending on how it handles a pretty brutal schedule and a division in which the Colts and Jaguars aren't going to lay down.
#21 Fantasy Player.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell is facing a four-game suspension for missing several drug tests, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Friday, per sources informed of his situation.
While Bell's case is still under review, the news cannot be welcome for the Steelers or Bell. Pittsburgh is looking to finally regain some consistency on offense, having not had Bell for a complete season since 2014. Bell is hoping to lay the groundwork for a long-term contract that would place him atop the NFL's running back market.
ESPN first reported the development.
So it goes for the Steelers, who will await the results of an appeal that should come down before opening day, though there is no clear timetable set. Per Rapoport, Bell will have the opportunity to plead his case and explain why he missed the test, but the NFL's policies are so stringent that there may not be much wiggle room.
Last year, the Steelers went 7-3 in the 10 games Bell missed.
Bell rushed for 556 yards and three touchdowns over six games last year. His 2014 season -- 1,361 rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns, 83 receptions for 854 yards and three touchdowns -- stands as the benchmark of his potential, though this is the second time Bell has tangled with the NFL's suspension office.
Almost exactly one year ago at this point, Bell had a three-game suspension for violating the league's policy on substances of abuse reduced to two games. He was arrested back in 2014 for possession of marijuana and a DUI.
The Steelers could now start the year pinned in a familiar position. The hope is that 33-year-old DeAngelo Williams can ride the momentum from a year ago and continue to act as a capable stopgap solution.
Camp report date: July 26.
Camp location: Anderson University, Anderson, Ind.
Offseason in a nutshell: Sometimes a team can get better simply by eliminating the clutter. Indianapolis began last season with a tremendous weight on its shoulders -- most of which dumped onto the back of quarterback Andrew Luck. The 'dream team' offense, loaded with young stars and big-play veterans, was primed to break records but could not protect its quarterback. The defense, a brainchild of its head coach, faltered due to injuries and a lack of stable core talent. This year has a different feel. Luck is supposedly healthy, Andre Johnson is gone and the Colts settled on a choice for offensive coordinator -- Rob Chudzinski -- who always seemed to make more sense for this offense in the first place. We must be careful: After pegging Indianapolis as a shoo-in for the Super Bowl this year, some of us are just as quick to label them the no-doubt comeback of the year front runner. There is good reason to believe this is a safe bet, but what if it isn't?
Player to watch in camp: Quarterback Andrew Luck: We have heard the words "practicing fully" and "without limitation" to describe Luck this offseason, but those phrases can still be blurry from time to time. What, exactly, can Luck do? Is there really no discomfort after missing half a season with a lacerated kidney? If so, is Luck still forcing passes after the routes have peaked? Has he developed a smoother and quicker draw on his open-field slide? The NFL's richest player will be analyzed to death this offseason and for good reason. He could take this team to a Super Bowl.
THREE BURNING QUESTIONS:
1. Is our curiosity in Josh Ferguson warranted?
As the great Stephen Holder pointed out this offseason, the Colts drained the well to pay for rookie running back Josh Ferguson as an undrafted free agent. His $35,000 in guarantees were pretty significant given the minute pool of cash teams have to lure players that weren't drafted. Per Holder, the Colts had a fourth-round grade on the running back. Picturing Luck with a shifty, catch-first third-down back gives fantasy nuts the chills and defensive coordinators headaches. So often we get caught up in the hype of undrafted free agents who flash during the spring where athleticism is picked up on above-game intelligence and knowledge of the playbook. But with Ferguson, we're allowing ourselves to dream a bit. This offense could be fun to watch with a blazing counterpart to Frank Gore.
2. Is the Colts' offensive line a bully in training?
From center to left tackle, the team has three first or second-round picks. While that might not mean much, the Colts overhauled parts of their offensive coaching staff this offseason in an effort to get more out of players who should have been playing better. Enter former Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin, who has been one of the better offensive line position coaches in the country for the past 20 years before moving up the ladder into coordinator and head coaching roles. This job is the potential springboard for Philbin to jump back into the higher rungs of NFL coaching, and the talent is there to make it an easy transition.
3. Where are we headed with Phillip Dorsett?
Last year's first-round pick was set to be the final piece of Indy's puzzle last season -- an underneath and over-the-top speed threat who could clear out a defensive backfield with ease. That didn't happen, though not much did as a confused Colts offense muddled its way through an 8-8 season. Early indications out of camp are that Dorsett will settle in as a modified Tavon Austin-type. Despite the mound of hype-train pieces proclaiming that this is his comeback year, there is a higher likelihood that he'll be sprinkled into the offense and used more organically. The best part about camp is that we should get to see all of those possibilities, even the ones that will be left on the cutting room floor.
Way-too-early season prediction: 9-7 with a one-game margin of error. This is a tougher Colts team but is it a better Colts team defensively?
#34 Fantasy Player.
#39 Fantasy Player.
Dennis Green will be missed.
