This article is part of our Training Camp Notes series.
To begin today's training camp notes, a number of players missed or left practice with injuries, but not enough is known at this time to make any definitive prediction as to their status, so we'll consider them players to monitor, and they are: Mike Williams (shoulder), Breshad Perriman (unspecified), Darrell Henderson (soft tissue), Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring) and James White (undisclosed).
· For the third day in a row, Melvin Gordon has missed practice time with injured ribs and is still considered day-to-day. With the season opener three weeks away, there's no reason to view him differently on draft day. He's currently being selected just outside the top-20 RBs.
· Since Sony Michel (foot) is looking shaky to be ready for Week 1, ESPN's Mike Reiss is reporting that Damien Harris is positioning himself to be a primary option alongside Rex Burkhead. That said, Harris' ADP has been on the rise recently, and he's now going just inside the top-50 RBs, though should he get the starting job, he could be sharing work with James White, Burkhead and even Lamar Miller, and that's assuming Michel doesn't return early in the season. There's both significant risk and limited upside when drafting Harris. In terms of Burkhead, he's often going undrafted, but his versatility could give him dart throw appeal as an endgame pick in deep leagues.
· In one of the least surprising stories of the month, Andrew Callahan of The Boston Herald is reporting that the Patriots' starting QB job is Cam Newton's to lose. Newton is a great upside choice as the 14th QB going off the board, and with a healthy foot, his rushing ability gives him a realistic chance of performing as a QB1.
· For the majority of Parris Campbell's rookie season, he dealt with a myriad of injuries that limited him to just seven games. Fortunately, he's had a healthy camp that's led to him showing his trademark explosiveness and playmaking ability in training camp, making him a player who could have a breakout in his second season after posting 18/127/1 last year. Campbell can be used both in the slot and outside, and he's a great upside play at his current ADP of WR60.
· Staying in Indy, Michael Pittman is seeing first-team reps while improving his performance against press man coverage. As a player who could see nearly a full-time role as an outside receiver, he could become a useful possession receiver for Philip Rivers, and such a role could make him well worth an ADP that's outside the top-60 WRs.
· After missing three days of practice with an undisclosed injury, N'Keal Harry returned to practice. Even though he should command a majority of snaps as the Patriots' most physical outside receiver, it's been reported throughout camp that he's struggled getting separation from defensive backs. Of course, he's squaring off against the New England CBs in practice each day, which typically causes most WRs to struggle, so that may be part of the problem. In any case, Harry seems to be a strong stylistic fit with Cam Newton, and with a very favorable ADP as WR64, he could see enough targets to give him a chance to outproduce that ADP.
· In a season that's especially difficult for rookies to learn the offense or show their skills off in preseason games, Denzel Mims has missed over a week of practice with a hamstring injury, and as hamstring injuries can linger, there is risk in drafting him, though his ADP of 193 at least mitigates most of the risk for those who ultimately select him.
· One of my favorite late-round dart throws in best-ball leagues is John Ross, who was just activated from the reserve/COVID list. With both A.J. Green and Tee Higgins missing time with hamstring injuries, Ross has likely not fallen behind them due to missed practices. Although Ross caught just 28 passes last year, he posted 506 yards and three TDs, and he was often open downfield, but the Bengals QBs were unable to take advantage of it. With Joe Burrow in town, a healthy Ross could reach his vast potential before hitting free agency in 2021.
· In 2019, Earl Thomas had one of his least productive seasons, and after an altercation with teammate Chuck Clark, Thomas had his contract terminated by the Ravens. That said, it seems likely that he'll resurface somewhere before the season starts, and if he latches onto a starting job, there' no reason to change his ranking on IDP draft boards.
· For those who use kickers in their leagues, the Bears plan to bring in Cairo Santos once he clears the COVID-19 protocols, and he'll provide competition for Eddy Pineiro. Regardless of who wins this job, it's difficult to foresee the Chicago kicker placing inside the top 12 at their position because they're tied to a potentially weak offense.
