Camp Stories

Oh the sounds of shoulder pads smacking have returned. We are a little over a month away from the start of the 2022 NFL season and training camps are starting to open up. There's going to be plenty to talk about league wide with camps here. New coaches. New faces in new places. New systems for teams to learn. And a lot more questions to go around the league as teams get ready for the regular season to open up. Since there was three teams that we really focused on here on the show last season, the Jets, the Giants and the Bucs. We will keep that focus again this season, along with the big stories around the league of course. So with camps here, lets take a look at some of the storylines to watch with the teams we cover here.

New York Jets

Its the second year for both head coach Robert Salah and quarterback Zach Wilson, both of whom are trying to figure put the system and speed at this level. It going to be interesting to see how well both can work with each other and how Salah can get Wilson ready in a system that best fits his abilities and gives the team the best chance to win.

There's also Denzel Mims. The former second round pick has had trouble adjusting to the game at the NFL level and hasn't really taken that next step. There's rumors floating around that Mims could possibly be traded during camp so its something to keep an eye on. He isn't more than 4th on depth chart among big targets for the Jets and isn't used on special teams. So look for the team to make a move with him. Then there the running back battle to see if Breece Hall can take away the work load of carrying the ball from Michael Carter. There's hope amongst the team that, in due time, Hall will eventually become the feature back on this team.

New York Giants

Then there's the stories brewing with the Giants. Wide receiver is a big playemaker spot in the NFL and the Giants have three pretty good ones in Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, and Sterling Shepard. What's at issue here is that all three guys are coming off injuries last season. They need one, or even two, to really show during camp that they can step up and be that bigtime playmaker in the Giants passing attack this season. And coming into this years camp, Tooney has the biggest hill to climb of sorts. He showed flashes against both Dallas and New Orleans that he can be an impact player on this team. Now, if he's fully healthy, can he keep those flashes all year round going.

The biggest addition coming into camp is Evan Neal, the right tackle who was picked 7th overall out of Alabama. If he can transition smoothly to the speed of this game at this level, then the Giants game can be taken even higher with a solid line. Its something that Big Blue has been trying to improve on for quite some time now and having him in the mix could be a very good thing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

\Well that didn't last long. It only last 40 days for life without Tom Brady here in Tampa. Brady's back for another go around with the Bucs. Weapons around Brady have changed a bit this year. no Brown, although he's been replaced on paper by Julio Jones on a one year deal. Biggest one is no Gronk, who retired during the offseason. Then there's Chris Godwin coming off offseason knee surgery and Leonard Fournette showed up to mini camp a little out of shape.

Trying to replace the Gronk effect is Kyle Rudolph, who's here on a one year deal, and working him in with Cameron Brate MIGHT be enough to fill most of the void left with Gronk retiring. And, on the other side of the football, Jason Pierre-Paul isn't on the line. He hasn't retired at all (at least not as of this writing), but he hasn't been signed yet either. So to replace him, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has been brought on board to try and fill that gap.

There's a lot to take in as camps are getting under way and as time goes on between now and the start of the season the pictures for teams will become much clearer.