Training camp is a time where we all come together and watch highlights or lowlights of our favorite players and fades, and go ballistic over all of it. While it’s hard to take away too much from training camp (everyone is in the best shape of their life, rookie UDFA’s look like Pro-Bowlers, you know the drill), it does have a tangible impact. And no, not just on the practice and building a rapport side of things. When a player misses camp for an extended period, for any reason, that is when things get sketchy.

I don’t have a full database on training camp drama yet. It’s something I want to build for future use. Given the flood of information that comes through each year with current training camp news, it’s nearly impossible to find previous year headlines or news from several years ago unless you already remember a certain thing to search for. So while my data is a bit sparse for previous seasons (as in, it’s likely not a complete list of holdouts, holdins, and injuries), I will be able to have a list of 20+ names after this year of players from 2025-2023 who did not participate in camp for an extended period who were/are fantasy relevant. I do have a list of ten players in 2023-2024 who missed training camp due to contract or injury: Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Burrow, Brandon Aiyuk, Tua Tagovailoa, Khadarius Toney, Josh Jacobs, Jordan Love, CeeDee Lamb, Jonathan Taylor, and Christian McCaffrey.

🐯 Of that list of names, only Chase returned his ADP value, finishing as the WR1 in 2024 after a contract dispute in training camp. Lamb was drafted as the WR1 or 2 in most leagues, and he finished as the WR8, not quite returning cost but not abysmal either (Dak Prescott was also injured last year). The QBs all missed games and finished at least 8 spots below their ADP expectation. McCaffrey, Taylor, and Jacobs fell way below their draft day value. Let’s not even mention Aiyuk and Toney.

That could mean big things for guys like Matthew Stafford, Najee Harris, Jauan Jennings, James Cook, Terry McLaurin, and the like. Of course, my historical sample size of 10 is small, and likely doesn’t include every relevant player that could have had a camp hindrance. But most of them are big-name players who failed to live up to their draft cost. It’s worth keeping in the back of your mind as you draft this weekend. 🔎