The level of legitimacy that reports out of minicamps is always up for debate. With no one doling out big hits and veteran players going at half speed to save themselves, it’s tough to say how much news out of these mandatory camps in the middle of June matter.
Although the level of skill a player exhibits can be tough to tell just from minicamps, we can look at the snaps that players took, what kind of roles they had in practices and how many show-stopping plays they made. While overall play on the field doesn’t matter as much now as it will when training camp starts up at the end of July, a few mistakes now can cost fringe players roster spots come August.
This will just look at the news coming out of the AFC East, where three of the teams are still looking to build up their roster, and one is looking once again for a Super Bowl title.
New England Patriots
Winners: Kenbrell Thompkins, James White
For Thompkins, this isn’t the first time he’s been impressive in offseason workouts. Last season, he looked great in practices but only went on to be incredibly disappointing during the season.
Besides Julian Edelman, the Patriots don’t have a single solid receiver at this point. Thompkins and fellow second-year player Aaron Dobson are both in the running to get the majority of snaps at receiver next to Edelman, but Nick Underhill of MassLive.com named Thompkins the “MVP” of New England’s training camp.
As future summer workouts unfold, it will be interesting to see how many snaps Thompkins gets with the first team, and if he can get on the field, there’s question Tom Brady will get the ball to him.
Elsewhere on the offense, White made a strong case to stay on the roster as a running back, with Underhill saying he could be Shane Vereen’s backup (still not sure if that means Stevan Ridley is the starter or the third-string back).
Karen Guregian also said that White caught a lot of passes out of the backfield, and showed that he could be a solid route runner, which for fantasy purposes, could make things interesting in really deep leagues looking to handcuff a Patriot’s starting running back.
Losers: Jeremy Gallon, Jimmy Garoppolo
On the opposite end of the Thompkins story, the seventh-round pick Gallon was a no-show with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Bill Belichick has never been afraid to sit a rookie, and the fact that Gallon was taken late in the draft certainly doesn’t help his case.
If Dobson and Thompkins get more familiar with Brady and the rest of the offense, Gallon will have a lot of ground to make up in training camp.
Another draft pick, Garoppolo would have likely been throwing to Gallon had Gallon been healthy, but it doesn’t seem like Garoppolo would have done much to make him look good.
Underhill wrote that Garoppolo would hold the all too long during practice, and went 3-for-15 on his passes in one day of minicamp, and he lost a fumble and had missed exchanges with rookie center Bryan Stork.
Although Ryan Mallett had a knee brace on and didn’t see much of the field, Garoppolo didn’t do much to make a case for being Brady’s backup.
New York Jets
Winners: Geno Smith, Bilal Powell, Stephen Hill
The obvious player to start with is Smith, who seemed to stand out as New York’s starting quarterback over Michael Vick.
Considering Vick seemed comfortable when he first came in being a mentor for Smith, there’s not much more to take apart here, other than that the Jets are going all-in on Smith this year to see if he can make it in the NFL.
In the running game, Powell established himself as another rushing option for the Jets behind Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory. Eric Allen of the Jets.com said Powell “doesn’t have a weakness” and declared the Jets “stacked” at running back.
Powell lead the team in rushing last season, and in training camp, he and Ivory will battle it out to be the backup to Johnson given that they are both power runners.
Meanwhile, Hill also seemed to work his way up the depth chart. After Eric Decker, New York’s receiving depth chart is wide open, and Seth Walder of the New York Daily News reported that Hill didn’t have a drop in all of minicamp and he made a “strong impression.”
Losers: Mike Goodson, Calvin Pryor
For obvious reasons, Goodson lost out in minicamp because he was released. He’s facing a gun charge that could send him to prison for 10 years, and he missed the mandatory camp, so he was let go from the team.
With the running back out the door, the running game in New York seems to be made up of just Powell, Johnson and Ivory.
The rookie Pryor didn’t do anything to hurt his stock on the field, but the team didn’t seem to take too kindly to his talk on the field. Smith, who as the quarterback is the pseudo leader of the team, said, “I don’t think he’s really earned that right to talk amongst this locker room. But he does get it in a little bit. I think he knows his place, he knows his role and the more and more he gets comfortable, I think you’ll hear him talking a little bit more,” according to Walder.
Miami Dolphins
Winners: Matt Hazel, Lamar Miller
After Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline, Miami doesn’t have any known commodities at receiver. The rookie Hazel seemed to be the most consistent No. 3 option in minicamp.
John Congemi of The Finsiders said Hazel had one of the highlight plays of the day on the third day of minicamp, catching a 30-yard pass from backup quarterback Matt Moore. The wide receiver battle will play out over the rest of the summer, but it seemed as if Hazel was the most impressive.
In the backfield, Miller took over as the starting back for the Dolphins, with Knowshon Moreno going down with an injury, which turns out will cost him a month after needed arthroscopic knee surgery.
After minicamp finished, James Walker of NFL Nation wrote that Moreno would need to stay healthy in order to even compete for the starting job, and it looks like that’s over already. If Moreno is able to get healthy before the starting of training camp, the competition can start up again, but Dolphins fans and fantasy owners will want to play close attention to this one.
Loser: The offensive line
By all accounts, the offensive line picked up where it left off last season. They were one of the worst units in all of football, and in minicamp, allowed seven sacks between the two lines after giving up 58 last season.
CBS Miami reported that on the first day of minicamp, quarterback Ryan Tannehill was visibly upset on the field and was out of rhythm, which is an obvious symptom of a failing offensive line.
If Tannehill can’t find time in the pocket, Miami’s offense is in for another long season.
Buffalo Bills
Winners: Fred Jackson, Jerry Hughes, Jarius Wynn
Although Jackson is 33 now, it doesn’t seem like he’s ready to start letting C.J. Spiller take over as an every-down back. Mark Gaughan of The Buffalo News said Jackson was still explosive in the backfield and wrote that he “did not look like he has lost a step.”
At defensive end, Hughes cemented himself as a starting defensive end, a year after recording 10 sacks. Gaughan said he once again showed “a quick first step,” after many wondered if he could keep up his production from last season (Hughes had just five total sacks combined in his first three years in the league).
Wynn, a free-agent signing, seemed to move up the depth chart to be a backup behind Hughes. Brian Galliford of SB Nation’s Buffalo Rumblings moved Wynn up his unofficial defensive end depth chart, and Gaughan said Wynn can be a “stout end to play first down against power offenses.”
Loser: E.J. Manuel
It’s very unlikely that Manuel would lose the starting job in Buffalo, but he certainly didn’t “wow” anyone in minicamp.
He threw one interception in camp to safety Aaron Williams, and receiver Robert Woods had to make two separate plays completely on his own to make up for throwing mistakes by Manuel, according to Gaughan.
Overall, Gaughan said it was an “inconclusive” showing, which is not a descriptor you want attached to your second-year quarterback.