- Watch Los Angeles Chargers receivers and tight ends: Two position groups face significant role changes in the new scheme.
- The Cardinals are sorting out their receiver pecking order: Arizona’s No. 1 wide receiver has not yet been determined.
- Terrange Ferguson could be primed for a bigger receiving role: The second-year tight end has reportedly worked as the Rams’ No. 3 wideout.
NFL training camps are now fully underway, with both rookies and veterans having reported across the league. While some NFL veterans are set to take on clear-cut roles, others enter fantasy-relevant training camp battles.
The article below breaks down need-to-know information and recommended storylines to track in the coming weeks.
Los Angeles Chargers wide receivers and tight ends
As detailed in “NFL Personnel Trends: How heavier groupings are shrinking the fantasy flex pool,” new Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel creates a fantasy-friendly environment for his team’s top-two wide receivers by frequently using fullback-based personnel packages (20, 21 and 22 personnel). The tactic reduces the number of capable target-earners on the field, allowing the team’s best target-earners to hog opportunities.
Chargers No. 1 wide receiver Ladd McConkey is a “full go” for training camp after successfully rehabbing the hamstring strain he suffered in spring practices. He has earned a 79.3 PFF receiving grade and a 20.4% target rate through two NFL seasons.
Chargers No. 3 receiver Tre Harris enters his second NFL campaign and is reportedly set to be a “legitimate part of the passing offense” alongside McConkey and No. 2 wideout Quentin Johnston.
Harris, 24, compiled a 14.4% target rate and a 66.6 PFF receiving grade as a 2025 rookie. Johnston, 24, has secured a 16.6% target rate and a 66.1 PFF receiving grade through three NFL seasons.
If two, or all three, wide receivers must split fullback-set snaps, it reduces their weekly fantasy reliability. But if one wide receiver is largely limited to three-wide receiver sets, the other two will benefit.
The Chargers’ tight end group faces a similar dynamic.
Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz signed former Baltimore Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar to the 20th-highest positional contract in average annual value after 2025 rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II’s breakout. He then brought in former Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku on a cheap, one-year deal.
If Gadsden, 23, can earn the starting role for 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end and two wide receivers) and 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers), he should return fantasy football TE1 value. As a rookie, Gadsden compiled a 16.9% target rate and a 71.1 PFF receiving grade while averaging 1.65 yards per route run (YPRR).
Among 77 NFL tight ends with at least 990 offensive snaps from 2022-25, Kolar’s 66.2 PFF run-blocking grade ranks fifth, and his 73.5 PFF receiving grade placed 17th, though he garnered just 40 career targets. He boasts a 1.70 YPRR career average. Kolar will challenge for the No. 1 tight end role.
Last season, Njoku earned a 61.6 PFF receiving grade, the second-worst of his career, and a career-worst 43.1 PFF run-blocking grade. He is a rotational player at best.
Arizona Cardinals wide receivers
The Arizona Cardinals are replacing their old X-receiver-centric passing offense with new head coach Mike LaFleur’s distributive scheme. LaFleur worked for or alongside Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and/or San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan in 10 of the last 12 years.
Cardinals X-receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. averaged 1.61 YPRR over the past two seasons while earning a 75.5 PFF receiving grade, while Cardinals Z-receiver Michael Wilson averaged 1.37 YPRR with a 73.1 PFF receiving grade during that span. Wilson averaged 2.46 YPRR while playing to an 85.9 PFF receiving grade during his Weeks 11-18 hot streak, in which he was the overall half-PPR WR2.
While Harrison is the nominal No. 1 wide receiver, the top positional target-earner has not yet been established. Wilson could win this battle.
WR Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers defending Offensive Rookie of the Year, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, missed “most” spring practices with a foot injury, his second such injury since December 2025. Fortunately, he recovered in time to take the field with his teammates on July 23, one day after veterans reported for camp. For context, McMillan dealt with three hamstring issues and a calf injury last season.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales reportedly plans to double McMillan’s 15.5% slot rate from last year, “if not more,” partially due to third-round rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell II’s potential premier abilities. Unfortunately, Brazzell’s Wednesday LCL sprain is expected to sideline him for the entire season, jeopardizing McMillan’s potential role alteration. Brazzell posted an 80.6 PFF receiving grade at Tennessee last year.
McMillan averaged 1.84 YPRR with a 75.0 PFF receiving grade when lined up on the perimeter compared to 1.88 YPRR and an 82.1 PFF receiving grade when lined up in the slot. A natural second-year leap, coupled with his potential usage improvements, raise his ceiling for 2026.
TE Terrance Ferguson, Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson will reportedly operate as the team’s de facto No. 3 wide receiver after ranking fifth in average depth of target (aDot, 17.9) among 206 NFL skill-position players with at least 30 targets last season. He earned a 61.2 PFF receiving grade last year.
Ferguson is a TE2 with explosive-pass-play upside. As outlined in “NFL Personnel Trends: How heavier groupings are shrinking the fantasy flex pool,” the Rams’ shallow pass-catching corps bodes positively for the team’s wide receivers.
New England Patriots running backs
New England Patriots starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson left practice early, just before the team’s final sprinting session on Tuesday. He was scheduled to speak with the media afterward, but did not show up. This scenario typically indicates an injury occurred; however, an illness is possible in this specific instance.
Stevenson’s 77.2 PFF offense ranks tied for 15th among 35 NFL running backs with at least 180 offensive touches in 2025.
With Stevenson sidelined by a toe injury in Weeks 9-11 last year, then-rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson finished as the half-PPR RB19, RB4 and RB4. He earned a 72.0 PFF rushing grade, a 56.0 PFF receiving grade and a 43.0 PFF pass-blocking grade during that span. He smartly spent spring practices refining his receiving and pass-protection skills.
Stevenson’s departure could be a non-issue. Regardless, this battle is worth watching.
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