NFL Minicamp News: Recapping Latest Fantasy Developments

This article will recap important fantasy football news from minicamps around the NFL.

Fantasy football position battles will continue into and ultimately settle during training camp, but developments in minicamps can alert us to those trends early.

The blurbs are loosely listed in descending order of fantasy significance, but here is the table of contents:

• RJ Harvey/Broncos backfield
• Buccaneers backfield
• George Pickens
• Caleb Williams
• Jets passing game
• Colts wide receivers
• Commanders running backs
• Ravens wide receivers
• Commanders tight ends 

RJ Harvey recovering (recovered?) from shoulder labrum surgery

Harvey suffered a torn shoulder labrum in Denver's 10-7 AFC Championship Game loss to the Patriots on Jan. 25. The date of the surgery that followed is unclear, but according to coach Sean Payton (via reporter Zac Stevens) Harvey reached the point of "full-go" during Denver's minicamp as of June 16.

Despite Payton's claim that Harvey is at or near 100 percent recovered from the injury, there is some anxiety around Harvey in the fantasy community due to the revelation of the injury in conjunction with the fourth-round selection of former Washington/Arizona standout Jonah Coleman.

As much as Payton might have ongoing concern about the ability of the 5-foot-8, 205 Harvey to withstand the workload of a full season, it's plausible that the Coleman selection was at least equally driven by a broader goal to pursue general running back depth. Some or many coaches prefer to have deep backfields, if only for acknowledgment of the injury rate that comes with the position.

Any coach who wants to run the ball probably can recall a time that they wanted to run the ball better than they could at the time, especially if an injured running back had anything to do with it. Particularly given the injury history of starter J.K. Dobbins, the Coleman selection could easily be attributed to concerns about Dobbins' durability rather than anything particular regarding Harvey.

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Whatever the way it sorts out in 2026, the Denver backfield will be an ongoing point of curiosity for fantasy speculators. By all accounts, the Broncos intend to run the ball often and with their elite defense those carries might occur in scoring range more often than most other teams. Each of Dobbins, Harvey and Coleman has their own qualified case to make.

Gainwell and Irving (shoulder) expected to split Tampa RB workload

According to ESPN's Jenna Laine, free agent pickup Kenneth Gainwell could be something like a 1B in the Buccaneers backfield to 1A Bucky Irving (shoulder).

Irving sat out minicamp while recovering from surgical repair to the shoulder that bothered him during the 2025 season. Gainwell's two-year, $14 million contract might be modest, but there's separate reason to believe Tampa Bay overworked Irving in his first two NFL seasons, and if the Buccaneers concluded the same this offseason then Gainwell's similar skill set gives Tampa a way to give Irving some additional breathers without changing the overall design of the offense.

Both Gainwell and Irving are notably skilled as receivers. It's perhaps especially interesting, then, that Laine mentioned Gainwell's arrival as a likely indication that the Buccaneers will utilize Irving and Gainwell within the same formations at times. Indeed, the defense could not correctly guess which of the two might get a target on a play on the basis of the other's presence – both players can run routes at a distinguished level, and if the defense sells out toward one then the other probably gets cut loose.

It's worth mentioning that RB3 Sean Tucker is a candidate to poach short-yardage work, something he already did credibly in 2025, but the general assumption is the Tampa backfield will primarily run through Irving and Gainwell.

George Pickens reports to minicamp, appears fully on track

There was some justifiable concern that Pickens' contract standoff with the otherwise signed franchise tag might result in acrimony between him and the Cowboys, but with a hearty knock on wood it appears that Pickens is at least on good terms with the Dallas coaches.

It would no doubt be a reassurance for Pickens' short- and long-term projections if he could get the contract he wants out of the Cowboys. It still should be safe to say in the meantime that Pickens' immense talent will continue to show up in the box score as long as he's motivated to work with coach Brian Schottenheimer. By all accounts, Pickens and Schottenheimer seem to get along great.

Furthermore, Pickens said he doesn't expect to hold out and only skipped voluntary OTAs because his agent advised him to. As much as Pickens might be hard-pressed to repeat his excellent 2025 season, his talent is beyond any doubt and when he's locked in he almost always produces.

Pickens and CeeDee Lamb arguably gives Dallas the best wideout tandem in the league, and with WR3 Ryan Flournoy generating his own hype this offseason the Cowboys might also boast the best three-deep at receiver league-wide.

Caleb Williams appears more comfortable in Chicago's offense

Ben Johnson's otherwise impressive work can only take the Bears so far on offense, and for Chicago to take the next step they'll need Caleb Williams to turn a corner in his third year.

The early reports are promising for Williams, who expressed greater comfort and the belief that his grasp on Johnson's offense has truly clicked this offseason. According to ESPN's Courtney Cronin, "Williams' comfort level in the Bears' offense has been evident throughout OTAs and mandatory minicamp."

Williams still has a lot to prove after failing to complete 60.0 percent of his passes in 2025, and his two-year run of falling below 7.0 yards per attempt remains a red flag as well. If Williams really has a new grasp of the Johnson offense it could be just what the third-year quarterback needs to turn a corner with his consistency as a passer. 

Williams cut down the sacks in 2025, and now he needs to cut down on the incomplete passes. Williams' playmaking ability has always been evident in the NFL, though undermined by his inconsistency. If he can become a consistent playmaker then the sky really would be the limit for Williams and the Bears. 

Jets passing game appears improved

Padless practices can only mean so much and the bar is incredibly low with the Jets offense, but Jets fans and investors will take any good news they can get and so far the Geno Smith-led passing game looks like an improvement over the Jets offenses of recent years.

ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini declared Smith one of the risers of the Jets minicamp and spring, along with three of his receivers (Adonai Mitchell, Omar Cooper and Isaiah Williams).

It helps that Garrett Wilson (knee) is healthy and Mitchell has done well for himself in minicamp, plus the rookie first-round tandem of Kenyon Sadiq (TE) and Cooper (WR) puts a bunch more speed on the field yet. Even so, improved as the pass-catching arsenal might be, it seems like Smith and the upgrade he presents as a passer could be the development that finally allows the Jets to field a vaguely respectable passing game.

Meanwhile, according to Cimini, Mitchell has all but conclusively established himself as the WR2 ahead of Cooper, presumably the WR3, thus presumably leaving Williams as the WR4.

Downs playing in more two-wide sets for Indy

The departure of Michael Pittman led to the assumption that Josh Downs would see an increased role relative to 2025, and for that to happen Downs would need to secure more boundary reps, especially in two-wide formations, after mostly playing the slot in three-wide formations prior to 2026. Based on comments from coach Shane Steichen, the Colts plan to do exactly that going forward.

Via SI Colts reporter Andrew Moore, Steichen said of Downs:

I think Downs, his role will step up a little bit more – more targets for him. He's a hell of a player. We've played him in the slot a long time. Get him some reps on the outside as well in the spring and see where that goes. But I'm excited about Josh and his development since he's been here.

Particularly with Alec Pierce (ankle) out until some point in training camp, it's easy to believe what Steichen is selling here, if only because it's not clear what other options the Colts have. Luckily, Downs does appear to be a talent perfectly qualified for the promotion. It appears Ashton Dulin is the expected WR3 otherwise, and the likely boundary wideout opposite Pierce when Downs plays the slot in three-wide formations.

Washington likely to utilize RB committee

One of the five offseason takeaways for ESPN Commanders reporter John Keim was that the Commanders are likely to utilize a running back committee in the 2026 season.

The respective strengths and weaknesses of Jacory Croskey-Merritt and free agent pickup Rachaad White appear to complement each other -- Croskey-Merritt is the better runner and White is the better receiver -- so a division of labor on that basis makes sense at a glance.

Coach Dan Quinn told Croskey-Merritt he needed to bulk up and improve as a receiver in the offseason. The second-year back showed up "noticeably bigger," according to Keim, so that's one box checked. It remains to be seen whether JCM has made similar progress as a receiver.

If JCM hasn't made progress as a receiver, then the pass-catching part of the game will likely be the unchallenged domain of White. Just the same, White's career-long struggles as a runner might dictate that JCM takes more of the rushing work between the two.

Walker pushing for WR3 role in Baltimore

According to ESPN Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley, DeVontez Walker was "the standout receiver" throughout Baltimore's spring practices, presumably giving the third-year former North Carolina/Toledo standout the inside track to the WR3 role in Baltimore.

Walker especially stands out for his ability to stretch the field vertically, an area where neither Zay Flowers nor Rashod Bateman stand out. Establishing Walker as a downfield threat would create a spacing effect that the Ravens haven't had since at least Marquise Brown, but Walker presents a much better catch radius than the other fastest Ravens receivers during Lamar Jackson's reign.

Walker's most likely 2026 impact is one where he is largely a downfield decoy, making the defense chase him on Go routes to create more room to strike underneath. Even so, in best ball formats especially Walker is worth consideration as a credible big-play threat for one of the league's best quarterbacks.

The rookie duo of Elijah Sarratt (fourth round, slot) and Ja'Kobi Lane (third round, boundary) figure to round out the WR4 and WR5 spots on the Ravens depth chart otherwise. They might be able to put a little heat on Bateman if he continues to struggle, but Walker's ability as a downfield clincher isn't imitated by any other Baltimore wideout. 

Commanders to utilize more TE personnel

Even Ben Sinnott's most loyal truthers probably lost a great deal of the faith when the Commanders signed free-agent tight end Chig Okonkwo to a three-year, $27 million deal this offseason. With money like that, anything short of a two-TE base offense would likely relegate Sinnott to something like 250 snaps in the 2026 season.

Perhaps luckily for both Okonkwo and Sinnott, the expectation is that new offensive coordinator David Blough intends to utilize more multi-TE formations and more tight end reps in general than prior offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

Keim's reporting added that "The belief in Washington is that the [Commanders] tight ends fit better in David Blough's offense than they did under Kliff Kingsbury." More specifically, Keim said that in minicamp Sinnott was catching passes in parts of the field where he "never saw chances" in the Kingsbury offense.

Sinnott is likely off the redraft and most best ball radars with Okonkwo the presumed lead man, but it will be interesting to see if Sinnott can push for playing time at the eventual expense of Okonkwo. Sinnott is a very good athlete and led his Kansas State team in receiving production -- the reasons to believe in him as a prospect still apply -- though Sinnott definitely needs to get cracking in Year 3 to prove he belongs in a starting NFL offense.