Fact or Fiction for the Biggest NFL Training Camp Rumors So Far

Every year, NFL fans and media celebrate the return of real football, when helmets and pads collide in earnest. The opening of training camps around the league means there's full contact: full-speed blocking, tackling, hits, 11-on-11, you name it. 

Of course, we'll say it again when the preseason kicks off, and yet again before the Week 1 Thursday night opener—but for now, this is as real as it gets.

The realness of all this on-field action tests the rumors we've been hearing all offseason. It also tests the offseason progress our teams have made, and the imaginary matchups. Rookies go up against veterans; free agents try to make an impact. The battle to make the roster can reveal a team's true strengths, unless it's actually highlighting weaknesses—that's the rub of training camp observations.

So which offseason notions are about to be disproved, and which training camp notes are for real? Bleacher Report will separate fact from fiction in the earliest days of these camps.

The Jets Will Be Terrible on Offense Again

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Fiction

Last offseason, the Internet was ablaze with the most pointless debate of all time: Is the 6'3", 214-pound wideout truly a No. 1 receiver?

Despite his size, quickness and sharp routes, anyone who'd spent time watching Eric Decker play knew the answer. No, he is not the kind of difference-making stud who will keep defensive coordinators up at night.

Yet the acquisition of just such a player, Brandon Marshall, doesn't seem to have inspired any conversation to the opposite: If Decker's not asked to be a No. 1 receiver, exactly how good can he be?

The answer, if JetsInsider.com's Connor Hughes is right, is very good indeed.

With Marshall and second-round rookie speedster Devin Smith on the outside of the offense, Decker has been getting heavy reps in the slot. Hughes says Decker "looks really comfortable" there, as he did in Denver, and "utilizes his great route running."

With even the slightest progression from quarterback Geno Smith—or a coup by capable backup Ryan Fitzpatrick—the New York Jets will be much harder to defend in 2015.

Trae Waynes Is Going to Need Some Time

Fact

Trae Waynes is big, fast, physical and played on a stout Big Ten defense. But cornerback is one of the few positions in the NFL where there really is still a learning curve; draftniks and Minnesota Vikings fans who swooned over Waynes' incredible combine performance will need to get a hold of themselves.

Waynes, firmly behind starting cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes and Terence Newman, was shifted inside to nickelback. Per noted Vikings blogger Arif Hasan, Waynes lost his battles against third-year receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, and decisively so.

The Vikings' No. 11 overall pick has plenty of physical talent, but in Michigan State's quarters defense, he was mostly asked to direct receivers down the sideline and run with them. Learning to defend the whole route tree from the slot will really steepen the learning curve for Waynes—but it might be the fastest way to fill in the holes in his game.

He may not make an "instant impact," as many thought he would, but he has plenty of opportunity to develop into a top outside corner.

RGIII Is Done

Jason Hirschfeld/Associated Press

Fiction

"RGIII has looked really, really good," NFL Network analyst Michael Robinson said after observing the first day of Washington's camp. "I don't think he's thrown an incomplete pass."

Griffin's athleticism and processing speed seemed to be back, so to speak, with much of the polish and confidence that had been lost restored. The first practice of the first day of training camp is far, far too early to make any grand pronouncements, but the broken, lethargic Robert Griffin we saw at the end of 2014 is not the quarterback who showed up to this camp.

It was always silly to pronounce such a talent done, despite last season's film being about as bad as it gets. If he stays healthy, relaxed, confident and motivated, he'll be far better than any other quarterback at the Bon Secours facility—and will have the potential to approach the production of his phenomenal rookie year.

Griffin won't ever be that exact same quarterback again; too many factors converged to make that season happen, and too much has changed since. But the spark that had been missing from Griffin's game since 2012? Not only is it not gone forever, it looks like it just might be back.

The Saints Offense Is Headed for Decline

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Fact

Somehow, Drew Brees didn't look a lot like Drew Brees last year.

Sure, he tied for the NFL lead in passing yardage, but that had a lot more to do with him leading the league in attempts and completions than anything else. His touchdowns (33) and touchdown rate (5.0 percent) each tied his lowest marks since his seven-year Pro Bowl streak started in 2008.

His interception rate, average yards per attempt and NFL passer efficiency rating matched his career averages but fell short of his recent bests. Statistically, it was his worst year since 2010, and his New Orleans Saints went a stunning 7-9.

Rumors started swirling about the Saints looking for Brees' successor in the middle of the 2014 season, and they drafted Garrett Grayson in the third round of the 2015 draft.

Yet Brees really wasn't playing poorly. In fact, he fought constantly to generate points without the help of healthy offensive weapons and to make up for a defense that was among the league's worst in points (28th) and yards (31st) allowed. Brees finished the 2014 season as Pro Football Focus' No. 2-graded passer.

The Saints' trade of All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham—who, unlike Brees, had very real struggles more or less glossed over—for All-Pro center Max Unger was wrongly perceived as a give-up move rather than a move to give Brees the time to once again pick defenses apart from the safety of a clean pocket.

Initial returns, however, were not good.

On the first day of training camp, as Larry Holder of NOLA.com reported, the Saints front seven—experimenting with a hybridized alignment and missing released pass-rusher Junior Galette—badly hassled Brees, sacking him twice on 13 dropbacks. Holder even assigned blame on one of the sacks directly to Unger.

Perhaps defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has rediscovered whatever voodoo he worked on the defense in 2013. Perhaps the release of Galette truly was addition by subtraction. Even so, those expecting the 36-year-old Brees to continue to defy age should brace for disappointment.

Darren McFadden Has Something Left in the Tank

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

Fiction

Remember when Darren McFadden was good?

What if he was good again? What if he was completely healthy, which he hasn't ever really been, and stayed healthy all year, which he hasn't ever really done, and looked as he did circa 2010? Wouldn't that be exactly what the Dallas Cowboys need right now?

For a few months, McFadden existed in this state of quantum uncertainty: Perhaps a combination of health, a great offensive line and a new winning environment would bring out the game-breaking talent we hadn't seen in years. Until he was observed on the field, nobody could prove that wasn't going to happen!

The waveform collapsed on the first day of Cowboys training camp when, per Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News, the team announced McFadden was on the PUP list with a hamstring injury.

McFadden's talent has never been in question, and no one who loves football is pleased about how little of it we've gotten to see over his first seven seasons—but it's time to make peace with the fact that we've already seen his best football, and what he's got left isn't enough to make an impact on a title contender.

LeGarrette Blount Is Not Going to Be the Man in New England

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Fact

LeGarrette Blount was one of the most astounding stories of 2014.

A spare, clunky part on the Pittsburgh Steelers' high-flying offense, he was released just hours after heading for the locker room while the team was still closing out a Monday Night Football win. Apparently upset at having not been given the ball all game, Blount made sure the Steelers never gave him the ball again.

Two days later, he reported to the New England Patriots—and became an integral part of the Pats' run to a Super Bowl championship.

Were it not for the conflagration known as Deflategate, the 2014 AFC Championship Game might have been remembered as Blount's greatest triumph: a 30-carry, 148-yard, three-touchdown performance that emphatically closed the door on Andrew Luck's bid to claim his first conference championship.

The natural assumption would be that Blount would live out his destiny as the Pats' once and future lead running back. He was handed a one-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy back in April, then placed on the non-football injury list at the start of camp.

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reported Blount failed his conditioning test, completing just 12 of the required 20 sprints of 50 yards in under eight seconds each.

It would be foolish to write Blount off for the entire season based on some offseason marijuana use and showing up out of shape for camp. But for a player who's struggled with maturity and consistency his whole career, it's cause for major concern.

Breshad Perriman Will Make Ravens Fans Forget Torrey Smith

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Fiction

There was a moment, per Luke Jones of WNST, when Breshad Perriman embodied everything the Baltimore Ravens hoped he'd be when they drafted him No. 26 overall: a "terrific catch" in the end zone over Kyle Arrington. Other observers buzzed about it, too, including ESPN.com's Jamison Hensley.

Hensley, though, pointed out everything else about Perriman's day: "shaky moments," including a dropped pass and an offside penalty. Then he ended his day by banging up his knee while trying to make a sideline catch.

Don't worry; Hensley quoted head coach John Harbaugh as saying all the right precautionary things. Perriman's season is not threatened.

Yet, these bumps in the road are exactly what made 25 other teams stay away. Perriman struggled with consistency, awareness and concentration at Central Florida, and he did not often dominate Conference USA competition like a 6'2", 212-pound receiver who cut two sub-4.3-second 40-yard dashes at his pro day should.

Torrey Smith isn't an all-around stud, either—but for Perriman to replace, let alone surpass, the deep threat who helped the Ravens win one Super Bowl and threaten to return in 2014, he has a lot of growing left to do.

Terrelle Pryor Is Going to Be a Legit Wide Receiver

Fact

"He looks the part for sure," Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden told Mary Kay Cabot of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "It looks like it can work."

He was talking about Terrelle Pryor, the Browns' newest wide receiver. The former Ohio State quarterback had struggled to catch on in the NFL, spending two years with the Oakland Raiders before being traded to Seattle for their 2014 training camp—where he didn't make the squad.

So far this calendar year, Pryor has had cups of coffee with the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals; his announced position switch to wide receiver and subsequent signing with the Browns had a distinct whiff of desperation.

Yet, on the first day of camp, the 6'4", 223-pound Pryor stood head and shoulders above the workmanlike Browns receiving corps. Pryor told Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal he's "so familiar with offensive coordinator John DeFilippo's playbook that younger WRs on [the] team are asking him questions."

Maybe Pryor can't meet the Browns' desperate need for a dominant No. 1 receiver, but the 26-year-old still has more physical talent than most NFL receivers ever have, and it looks like he'll finally have a chance to apply it.