Fantasy Football 2023: Training Camp Roundup (8/17)

Training camps provide our first look into NFL players and teams as we prepare for the upcoming fantasy football season. Information will now begin to flood our social media timelines, leaving us to determine the subsequent fantasy impact. It’s a matter of knowing which information matters, and which should be ignored.

So each day in this space, we’ll take a trip through the top news and takeaways around the league’s training camps to offer up what fantasy managers need to know as we head through draft season and into the 2023 NFL regular season.

Below, let’s review the major news from Wednesday.

Treylon Burks to Miss Multiple Weeks with LCL Sprain

Tennessee’s sophomore wideout suffered an LCL sprain after making an impressive catch on a deep pass in practice. It initially appeared significant, so the multi-week absence actually should be considered a sigh of relief. Still, Treylon Burks, who missed time during his rookie season with a concussion and turf toe, will miss some time. DeAndre Hopkins should dominate the targets in Burks’ absence, though it’ll be interesting to see where he lines up in the formation. Kliff Kingsbury didn’t move his receivers around the formation much at all. In fact, during his three seasons in Arizona, Hopkins lined up on the left side of the formation 89.6%, 79.5% and 62.0% of the time. He only lined up in the slot 17.4% of the time during that span. That is going to change in Tennessee. During the 2019 season in Houston alongside now-Titans OC Tim Kelly, Hopkins operated from the slot 36.4% of the time. If Burks misses regular season games, Tennessee’s three-wide sets will feature Hopkins, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and slot receiver Kyle Philips. 

Russell Gage to Miss 2023 Season

Russell Gage was carted off the field during Wednesday’s practice after suffering a “pretty serious” non-contact injury, according to Bucs head coach Todd Bowles. It was reported Thursday that it was a ruptured right patellar tendon, which will end his season. There have already been reports out of Tampa Bay that new offensive coordinator Dave Canales would move both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans around the formation more this season, and I’d expect that to especially hold true now that the team will be without Gage, who operated out of the slot about 36% of the time last season. 

Jordan Addison in the Concussion Protocol

Jordan Addison did not practice Wednesday, and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said the rookie wideout had light symptoms but could be back as early as Monday. It is only a matter of time before Addison firmly establishes himself as the WR2 in Minnesota.