NFL Training Camp News Updates Impacting Fantasy Football: Malik Nabers Trending For Week 1?

Training camp is here.

It serves as the alarm that fantasy football drafts are right around the corner. And while camp is exciting, it is important to be able to differentiate what news is of substance versus fluff. Although so many teams have yet to report, we already have news items that actually mean something to us.

No fluff around here.

NFL Training Camp News Impacting Fantasy Football

Jonathon Brooks Continues To Trend Upward

There has already been plenty of excitement surrounding Jonathon Brooks in the fantasy space.

It appears the start of training camp is only going to intensify that hype.

Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network recently reported that Brooks looked incredible during the spring, with the hope being he can form an early-season 1-2 punch with Chuba Hubbard. And to kick off Carolina’s first day of training camp, Brooks was seen taking some first-team reps, which follows Wolfe’s report that there would be no limitations for the former second-round pick.

2 Panthers playmakers who could define season for @GMFB:

Tetairoa McMillan much more BIG SLOT reps & plan to launch him to stardom

Jonathon Brooks 1st NFL training camp practice. Belief is if (big if) healthy, Brooks forms strong 1-2 punch w/ Chuba Hubbard + eventually lead RB pic.twitter.com/8amDTmBiJK
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) July 23, 2026

I would say Brooks is an elite post-hype sleeper, but by the time late August rolls around, he may not even be considered a sleeper anymore. My guess is no player in all of fantasy football sees their fantasy football ADP rise more than Brooks over the next month. Carolina is clearly going to give him a chance to not only split work with Hubbard, but potentially emerge as the lead option at some point. We saw this same regime just last season relegate Hubbard to a backup role once Rico Dowdle emerged. Among 64 running backs with at least 50 carries, Hubbard ranked:

52nd in EPA/rush (-0.11)
48th in YPC (3.8)
64th in explosive rush rate (0.75%)

The drumbeat is getting louder and louder around Brooks.

More Slot Usage On The Horizon For Tetairoa McMillan?

In Wolfe’s same report, he mentioned that Tetairoa McMillan is going to play a lot more in the slot during his sophomore season. As a rookie last year, McMillan ran 20% of his routes from the slot, while lining up inside just 15% of the time.

Moving around the formation more will give McMillan more free releases, something that was difficult to come by as a rookie. He ran the ninth-most routes when facing press coverage last season, while his 54 targets against press were tied for the seventh most. And seeing more work over the middle of the field will present more opportunities to make plays after the catch. McMillan ranked 36th among 68 qualified receivers in YAC/REC as a rookie (3.8), while running crossing routes just 10.8% of the time (98th among WRs).

I’ve been lower on McMillan than most this offseason, but this recent development certainly can’t hurt.

David Montgomery and Woody Marks To Split Lead Role?

An initial report suggesting David Montgomery and Woody Marks would split lead reps had the fantasy community puzzled. But NFL Network’s Jane Slater clarified that it won’t be an even split and that Montgomery would see slightly more work. Still, it sounds like Marks could be more involved than expected.

This won’t be an even split everyone.

I’m told David Montgomery will likely have slightly more here but the vision (and it’s early) is for Woody Marks to build on last season especially with the help of Montgomery and hopefully see a significant amount of reps. How that shakes… https://t.co/zNrJVprAYD
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) July 22, 2026

Training camp practices in Houston should give us a better idea of what the usage of the backfield will look like. Marks emerged as Houston’s lead running back in Week 7 of last year, averaging 16.2 touches per game the rest of the way. However, the efficiency wasn’t there, as Marks ranked 46th in EPA/rush (-0.15), 48th in yards per carry (3.5) and 41st in success rate (36.2%). But his pass-game chops make him a pretty strong complement to Montgomery.

We’ll see how everything shakes out, but I wouldn’t suddenly view this as a committee. I’m still operating under the assumption that Montgomery handles over 60% of the RB carries for the Texans.

But you know what happens when you assume …

Malik Nabers Avoids Training Camp PUP List

For most of the offseason, the vibes around Malik Nabers’ recovery haven’t been great. However, we finally received some positive news, as ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported that the Giants star wideout has not been placed on the PUP list to kick off camp, obviously a positive sign that he could be ready for the team’s Week 1 game against the Cowboys.

While this is good news, the Giants are still expected to bring him along slowly. And from a fantasy perspective, there remains some risk around drafting him. But when he’s on the field and at full strength, we know where the football is going. And given how dominant his rookie year was, it’s obvious why there is so much excitement for his return.

2024 Ranks:

35% target share (1st)
31% TPRR (2nd)
11.3 targets per game (1st)
9.1 first-read targets per game (1st)

Patrick Mahomes Cleared To Practice Fully

Not that anyone had any doubt that Mahomes would somehow play Week 1, but Mike Garafolo’s report that he has clearance to practice fully in Chiefs’ training camp is about as good a sign as there is. Mahomes stated that he’ll want to be out there for the preseason, but that being ready to play in the regular season is more important.

We’ll see if Mahomes changes his style of play at all following a torn ACL and LCL during Week 15 of last year. The rushing played a key role in his fantasy production, as Mahomes posted a 9% scramble rate (5th), averaging 3.8 scrambles per game (2nd).

Mahomes checks in as consensus QB13 in our fantasy football rankings.