The All-NFL Training Camp Must-Watch Team

NFL training camp is like a teaser trailer: It's your first real glimpse of the final product, the first concrete evidence of whether the thing you want so badly to be awesome is going to be awesome.

And yet, it's nothing of the sort. Teaser trailers show very little real footage, chopped into tiny segments devoid of context. Lots of fading in and out, dim lighting, smash cuts, obscured glimpses, hyperdramatic music and very little dialog. Done right, it doesn't matter if the movie's any good, or even what it's about—you absolutely will get hyped for it.

A few shadow-drenched glimpses of the main character delivering one or two choice lines can't prove the movie's going to be good. But if running a flick through the make-it-awesome cookie cutter can't produce two solid minutes of film, the movie could well be awesome.

Training camp is much the same. Players looking good in drills and scrimmages doesn't necessarily mean anything; that's supposed to happen. Players looking bad in drills and scrimmages often spells doom for their regular-season prospects.

Yet, some players are gamers, and the full-contact competition can at least reveal one player outperforming their teammates—whether that's other players on the depth chart, or their counterparts on the other side of the ball. For many key players around the league, training camp will give fans and media a solid idea of what kind of impact they can make.

Bleacher Report's All-NFL Training Camp Must-Watch Team features young players trying to establish themselves, aging veterans with new homes, risky free agents trying to stabilize franchises and prime veterans trying to change the balance of power in their division.

Quarterback

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First Team: Geno Smith, New York Jets

The Jets' incredible free-agency splash and excellent crop of rookies put them squarely in contention in the AFC East. The biggest question mark from last season, though, is unchanged: Geno Smith.

Smith showed signs of improvement last year, but he also had some terrible outings. The ill-advised Mike Vick experiment is over, and new veteran backup Ryan Fitzpatrick is coming off one of his best seasons. Smith's margin for error is razor-thin—yet his upside is higher than Fitzpatrick's, and if he puts it all together with the vastly improved receiving corps, the Jets could be serious challengers for the AFC crown.

If he looks terrible in camp...well, Jets fans might be wondering what all the millions spent and new coaching staff were for.

Second Team: Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

He's not just a No. 1 overall pick. He's not just capping off a phenomenal college career by being handed the reins to an NFL franchise within driving distance of his old campus. He's not just a lightning rod for controversy whose terrible off-field choices and apparent immaturity make him a huge character risk.

Winston is a truly gifted passer with a legit NFL arm, blessed with an amazing crop of pass-catchers who could be insanely productive on the other end of his talent.

Though the Buccaneers were just 2-14 last year, they have real talent on both sides of the ball. If Winston looks sharp in camp, it could augur a worst-to-first turnaround in the NFL's weakest division.

Running Back

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First Team: Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts

This is the definition of must-watch: A five-time Pro Bowl running back who's spent his entire career with one franchise landing on a team that made the AFC Championship Game despite a laughable deficiency in the run game.

If Gore looks like the same guy that played for a decade without averaging fewer than four yards per carry, the Colts won't just be Andrew Luck and some lucky turnovers in a weak division—they'll be a powerfully balanced force to be reckoned with.

Second Team: Joseph Randle, Dallas Cowboys

After much tea leaf reading into the signing of Darren McFadden, it looks as though the meat of the carries available to Dallas Cowboys running backs will be scarfed up by Randle, a 2013 fifth-round pick. Randle's mouth has been writing checks about his ability to replace—even improve on—the production of departed 2014 Offensive Player of the Year DeMarco Murray.

Training camp will be Randle's first chance to prove his legs can carry the load—and underwrite his assessment of himself.

Wide Receiver

First Team: Victor Cruz, New York Giants; Breshad Perriman, Baltimore Ravens; Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders

As Bleacher Report's Chris Simms explains in the above video, the Victor Cruz we see in training camp is unlikely to be the salsa-dancing superstar we knew before popping a patellar tendon. However, he should eventually work back into that form—and once he does, he and sophomore Odell Beckham Jr. are going to be an incredible combination.

How close Cruz is at the start of camp, and how quickly he improves, could determine the Giants' fate this year in a crazy NFC East.

Breshad Perriman has the size, speed and tools to not just be the do-everything No. 1 receiver the Ravens have lacked since sending Anquan Boldin packing. What he doesn't have is college game film proving he can consistently make tough catches—or even routine ones—like Boldin.

With the Ravens looking to establish dominance over the AFC this season, Perriman's under incredible pressure to prove he can be a productive pro.

In Oakland, super-rookie Amari Cooper should give big-armed sophomore quarterback Derek Carr the legit weapon he so desperately needed in 2014. How fast those two click against the Raiders' back seven will be a great bellwether for how they'll fare against enemy defenses.

Second Team: Torrey Smith, San Francisco 49ers; Kevin White, Chicago Bears; Dwayne Bowe, Cleveland Browns

Smith, the man whose departure prompted Perriman's drafting, joins Boldin in San Francisco. Giving embattled young quarterback Colin Kaepernick a true field-stretcher could do wonders for Kaep's numbers; getting the passing game back on track could keep the 49ers' disastrous offseason from leading to a total implosion.

White, whose scintillating combine performance nearly elevated him over Cooper, could become to Alshon Jeffery what Jeffery was to Brandon Marshall: at first, a lethal, one-dimensional coverage-drawer, and ultimately a younger, superior player. Whether he can click with Jay Cutler in the Bears' latest new offense will go a long way toward determining whether the Bears can get back into playoff contention.

Dwayne Bowe has been teasing NFL fans for what feels like ages. Now, five years removed from his last Pro Bowl season, he's set to do it to Browns fans all over again. The 30-year-old still has the physical tools to be an impact player at a spot where one is desperately needed—but the effort, focus and supporting situation have not been there.

In Cleveland, the latter aspect isn't there, and training camp should tell us about the former two. But potential? Oh yes, there's just enough to tease you into thinking a renaissance could happen.

Tight End

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First Team: Jordan Cameron, Miami Dolphins

As the dust from NBA free agent DeAndre Jordan's last-second change of heart settles, the NFL has a mind-changing free-agent Jordan that's about to get in live reps with his new team.

Jordan Cameron, the big-play tight end marooned on a quarterbackless Cleveland Browns franchise, was all set to re-sign—until reports of that deal made the rounds and the Dolphins swooped in and topped it. With their incumbent tight end, Charles Clay, visiting elsewhere, the Dolphins made their only shot at Cameron count.

With big turnover in the receiver corps, Cameron making a quick impact could be vital for quarterback Ryan Tannehill's continued development.

Second Team: Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions

Taken No. 10 overall in the 2014 draft—ahead of, infamously, breakout superstar pass-catcher Odell Beckham Jr.—Ebron struggled to translate his athleticism into production in the Lions' new offense. With former New Orleans Saints quarterback coach Joe Lombardi at the whiteboard again in 2015, Ebron's role in the talented Lions receiver group should greatly expand.

There was never any question about Ebron's potential; if it's apparent in training camp that potential could be realized, Ebron will be in for a monster season.

Offensive Tackles

First Team: Ereck Flowers, New York Giants; Ty Sambrailo, Denver Broncos

The symmetry is stunning: Two rookie offensive linemen pushed into starting at left tackle because of injuries to quality veterans, both trusted to protect the blind side of aging star quarterbacks—star quarterbacks who happen to be brothers. Both Flowers and Sambrailo will face huge challenges on teams with playoff expectations.

Flowers, a huge, powerful, but technically and athletically limited tackle, will struggle against NFL edge-rushers. Sambrailo, a tall, lean, athletic type, will need to get low and get off the ball to open up holes in Gary Kubiak's power running game.

Second Team: Jake Matthews, Atlanta Falcons; Eric Fisher, Kansas City Chiefs

If Flowers and Sambrailo don't rise to their challenges, they could be in the position Matthews and Fisher find themselves: not far into their young careers, having put out lots of bad tape and showing little sign of hope for better.

If Matthews and Fisher can't quickly prove they've gotten much better at blocking NFL defenders, their quarterbacks could be in for a long season—and they could be in for short careers.

Offensive Guards

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First Team: Jonathan Cooper, Arizona Cardinals; Tre' Jackson, New England Patriots

Jonathan Cooper is one of the NFL's great conundrums: a fantastically talented young guard who seemed set to anchor the Cardinals line as a No. 7 overall pick, rendered all but useless by injuries and poor play. Multiple reports, such as this one from the team's official reporter Darren Urban, indicate Cooper is far healthier and more fit than he's ever been—great news for Carson Palmer and the Cardinals offense.

Nearly everything went right for the New England Patriots in 2014, but guard play was one of the exceptions. With a highly rotated cast performing not so well, 2015 fourth-round pick Tre' Jackson looks to step in and solidify the interior pass protection and run blocking for the reigning champs.

When camp opens, we'll see how prepared he is to take that challenge on.

Second Team: Mike Iupati, Arizona Cardinals; Laken Tomlinson, Detroit Lions

Mike Iupati is a couple of seasons removed from his very best form, but he's still a tenacious run-blocker in the prime of his career. More importantly, he's a prize get from the Cardinals' division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. If Iupati can import the kind of quality and toughness the 49ers line boasted during his time there, the Cardinals are going to be tough to get off the field.

With higher-drafted guard Brandon Scherff playing tackle, Tomlinson is the highest-drafted rookie guard who'll actually play guard. A bit of a reach at the end of the first round, Tomlinson will be expected to help rejuvenate a Lions line that took a big step back in 2014—but he'll also have to beat out veteran Manny Ramirez, reacquired from the Broncos on a mid-draft trade.

Offensive Center

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First Team: Rodney Hudson, Oakland Raiders

Hudson was the best under-the-radar signing of this free-agency period. The Raiders replaced Stefen Wisniewski with a player who's now just 26 years old and was Pro Football Focus' No. 3-ranked center in 2014. With aggressive moves to restock the edges of the offense, Hudson should be the anchor of a unit that's expected to take a huge step forward in 2015.

How cohesive the line looks in camp will be a great early indicator for how big an impact poaching Hudson from the division rival Kansas City Chiefs will have.

Second Team: Lemuel Jeanpierre, Seattle Seahawks

Jeanpierre, a fourth-year undrafted free agent with 11 career starts, will be replacing a first team All-Pro and team captain who played a crucial role in leading the Seattle Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowls—but no pressure, right?

All he's trying to do this camp is prove he can keep Russell Wilson as clean as Max Unger did while also opening as many holes for Marshawn Lynch. No sweat!

Nose Tackle

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First Team: Vince Wilfork, Houston Texans

Vince Wilfork revved it up a few times in the Patriots' push to the Super Bowl championship, but he spent much of the season looking gassed and ineffective on a limited snap count. As a result, Wilfork spent far more snaps eating space as a massive 3-4 defensive end than anchoring the defensive line from the 0-tech spot.

With the Texans already boasting a pretty good defensive end in J.J. Watt, all however-many-hundred pounds of Wilfork will again be asked to corral two running lanes by himself in Houston. Playing outside Bill Belichick's direction for the first time, Wilfork's motor in camp will point the way toward how big a help he'll be in getting the Texans back to the postseason.

Second Team: B.J. Raji, Green Bay Packers

The Packers spent much of 2014 cycling through defensive linemen, trying to find the best way to use the limited talents of a mediocre position group. Talent is something Raji possesses; we've seen flashes of it in his first five NFL seasons on the field.

After missing all of 2014, though, Raji is an unknown quantity—and he flashed very little of that talent in 2013, leaving what he brings to the table an open question. He vowed to Rob Reischel of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he plans to "exceed" his career-best year of 2010 with his rested, revitalized body and newfound focus.

If he can again make a big impact at the nose, Raji will be a massive upgrade for a Green Bay Packers team that fell just short of the Super Bowl in 2014.

Interior Rushers

First Team: Arik Armstead, San Francisco 49ers; Nick Fairley, St. Louis Rams

This isn't so much about Arik Armstead, who he is or what he can do. It's more about the stunning collapse of the depth chart above him, the one-offseason implosion of everything the Jim Harbaugh-era 49ers achieved, and what's going to be asked of every single defender left on the roster.

Armstead's measurables are there. His fit as an end in the 49ers defense is perfect. But continuing the legacy of take-no-prisoners All-Pros like Justin Smith and Patrick Willis would be an impossible task, even if Armstead weren't a bark-is-worse-than-his-bite guy from Oregon.

Our first full-contact look at Armstead next to Glenn Dorsey and mercurial free-agent signee Darnell Dockett will be critical.

Fairley has been an enigma from the moment he entered the league. At times, he was even more disruptive than All-Pro linemate Ndamukong Suh. At other times, his wildly fluctuating weight and inconsistent production gave the Detroit Lions cause to let him walk.

Fairley's potential in St. Louis is just as all over the place: He could be a world-devourer next to the likes of Robert Quinn and Chris Long, or an unremarkable rotational player in one of the league's deepest units.

Second Team: Ra'Shede Hageman, Atlanta Falcons; Darnell Dockett, San Francisco 49ers

Hageman didn't show much as a part-time defensive lineman in Mike Nolan's hybrid front. But the second-round rookie has Pro Bowl measurables and flashed a nasty mean streak in college, and he has the potential to dominate in new head coach Dan Quinn's 4-3 under front.

As anyone who's been paying attention to the Falcons knows, they've been desperate to put any kind of pressure on the quarterback for years. Hageman doesn't have to be a Pro Bowler in 2015 to make a big impact; if he looks disruptive in scrimmage periods, it bodes very well for Quinn and his defense.

Dockett has been one of the NFL's best inside pass-rushers over his 11-year career...when he feels like it. His ACL injury and rehab caused him to miss the entirety of the 2014 season, and his first stint away from the Arizona Cardinals will be with the rival 49ers. How healthy Dockett is, how much he has left in the tank and how motivated he is are all questions that will be first addressed in training camp.

Edge-Rushers

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First Team: Greg Hardy, Dallas Cowboys; Vic Beasley, Atlanta Falcons

The last time we saw Greg Hardy on an NFL field, he was every bit "The Kraken," registering a sack, three solo tackles and an assist against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After spending the rest of the season being paid to stay away from Bank of America Stadium, Hardy arrived in Dallas on a get-paid-as-you-play contract with a suspension looming over his head.

Now that the suspension has been reduced to four games, we finally have an answer as to when he'll be able to get on the field—but until he straps pads on and hits, we won't know if he's still the Pro Bowl-caliber pass-rusher the Cowboys so desperately need.

The Falcons' need for pressure off the edge reached almost comical levels in 2015. End Kroy Biermann led the team with just 4.5 sacks—and No. 2 wasn't close.

Beasley is the prototypical edge-rusher new head coach Dan Quinn so desperately needs for his defense to work; we'll quickly find out if he looks the part in practice.

Second Team: Barkevious Mingo, Cleveland Browns; Dee Ford, Kansas City Chiefs

Reading the tea leaves on Mingo is already such grim work that rookie Nate Orchard nearly got this spot. But 2013's No. 6 overall pick—and toast of the antecedent NFL combine—has the innate talent to be the final piece of the puzzle for a very talented Browns defense.

Ford, the Chiefs' first-round pick of 2014, might have been the successor to Justin Houston. Instead, with Houston's massive contract extension inked, Ford will again back up gracefully aging Tamba Hali. But the Chiefs didn't draft Ford to sit on the bench, and he needs to prove he and Houston can keep up the fiery bookended attack for years to come.

Linebackers

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First Team: Kiko Alonso, Philadelphia Eagles; Shaq Thompson, Carolina Panthers

Far more attention was paid to LeSean McCoy being traded away from the Eagles than Kiko Alonso being traded to them. Yet, not only is Alonso a Chip Kelly product who'll fit perfectly into the Eagles defense, but he's also a gifted player who showed tremendous potential before injury cut his sophomore season short.

An impact coverage defender on a team in desperate need of such, gauging his apparent health, burst and comfort level in training camp will be vital.

Thompson was one of the most talked-about players at this year's NFL combine—partially for his magnificent all-over-the-field game film, partially for his surprisingly lackluster workout numbers but mostly for his lack of a clear position. How Thompson fits the Panthers as a linebacker will answer one of the offseason's most intriguing on-field questions.

Second Team: Stephone Anthony, New Orleans Saints; Stephen Tulloch, Detroit Lions

The Saints had the fourth-best scoring defense in 2013, and the fifth-worst in 2014. The play of the back seven had a lot to do with this stunning drop-off, and Anthony's size and athleticism should allow him to lock the middle of the field back down against opposing tight ends.

Tulloch was a team captain and apparent linchpin of the Lions defense—yet after he blew out an ACL celebrating a Week 3 sack, the Lions went on to have their best statistical season since 1983. With Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley elsewhere, the rehabbing Tulloch will be counted on to bolster the middle of the defense.

Cornerbacks

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First Team: Darrelle Revis, New York Jets; Byron Maxwell, Philadelphia Eagles

The best cornerback of his generation—maybe ever—left the Jets, ended up with the rival New England Patriots, won a Super Bowl with the Patriots and then left the Patriots to come back to the Jets. There's nothing we can learn from watching him in training camp as long as he doesn't show up 50 pounds overweight, but all eyes around the country will be on him for every rep he takes this season.

Maxwell arrives as the stunningly well-paid free-agent savior of a much-maligned Eagles secondary. Yet, his production and tape with the Seattle Seahawks don't bode well for his chances of switching teams and playing like a Pro Bowler. Attention should, and surely will, be paid to how good he looks in camp against the Eagles' young receivers.

Second Team: Trae Waynes, Minnesota Vikings; Tramon Williams, Cleveland Browns

A big combine push, and the always-high demand for cornerbacks, boosted Waynes' draft stock into the stratosphere. Selected No. 11 overall, Waynes has a lot of pressure on him to excel for head coach Mike Zimmer and the fast-rising Vikings defense.

Williams, a forgotten man on the wrong side of 30, put out a lot of solid game film across 1,032 snaps in 2014—significantly outplaying the bigger, younger, departed Buster Skrine. The Browns secondary has plenty of size, speed and talent; Williams adds a stable veteran presence. Unless he looks old in training camp, expect him to be a sneaky-great addition to a formidable unit.

Safeties

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First Team: Tashaun Gipson, Cleveland Browns; Matt Elam, Baltimore Ravens

Gipson is a perfect storm of "must-watch" traits: He made eye-popping play after breathtaking highlight in 2014 before strained knee ligaments ended his first Pro Bowl season early. To top it all off, he held out of voluntary offseason workouts in a contract dispute. We want to see if he's healthy, we want to see if he can play at that level again, and we want to know if he'll go all-out without a long-term deal.

Head coach Mike Pettine called it "disappointing," per Mary Kay Cabot of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, that Gipson showed up for minicamp with a pulled hammy. Will he be flying around at 100 percent in training camp, or will he be suffering from a series of mild injuries?

The hopes that Elam could replace Ed Reed have all but evaporated. With Baltimore in position to make a serious title run, the Ravens secondary that melted down in a flaming pile of injuries and poor play simply has to be better in 2015—just like Elam himself.

Early reports from minicamp were heartening, as the team's official site quoted teammates and coaches alike in praising the 2013 first-rounder's effort. If he evolves into a difference-maker during training camp, he'll make an already-fierce Ravens defense much harder to score on.

Second Team: Antrel Rolle, Chicago Bears; Landon Collins, New York Giants

The safety position has been an open, weeping wound in the Chicago Bears roster for years on end. Though Rolle's 2014 season was far from his best, he'll be expected to help stabilize a very young Chicago secondary as the Bears go through their second major defensive transition in three seasons.

Collins joins a Giants team desperate for defensive playmakers; the big, fast All-American is an explosive tackler and aggressive in coverage. With both of the Giants' top safeties from 2014 ending up elsewhere, Collins must backstop a defense with little pass rush and big expectations.