Rookie minicamps have begun in the NFL, allowing teams to work with new draftees for the first time. While it's an exciting time for fans, it's crucial to temper expectations as these practices focus on learning fundamentals and team culture.
Now that the dust has settled from the NFL offseason and (most) major moves are done, itās time to get back to the main thing: football. Kind of.
Rookie minicamps have kicked off across the league, with a handful of teams getting to work with their new draftees and signees for the first time since the end of the NFL Draft. Itās easy for fans to get excited here as new beacons of hope like Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza don their teamās uniforms for the first time, but itās important not to get too swept up in any reports that come out of rookie minicamp ā good or bad. Padless practices on a brand new team are just about learning the basics and entrenching themselves in a teamās culture.
There doesnāt seem to be any rookie generating Travis Hunter or Shedeur Sanders-level fervor this season, but itās still a good chance to remind everyone what rookie minicamp means at the end of the day.
The players who find themselves under the most pressure at rookie minicamps are the players on the fringes. These are really the majority of the players at rookie minicamps. The undrafted free agents and younger veteran players who are trying to hold on to their last chances at being an NFL player. For example, 2023 fifth-round pick Clayton Tune will be trying out for the Texans at their rookie minicamp over the upcoming weekend. Highly drafted players arenāt in danger of being cut at this point, so the biggest stakes reside on those at the bottom.
NFL rookie minicamps are designed for new draftees to learn team fundamentals and integrate into the team's culture.
Multiple NFL teams are conducting rookie minicamps, but specific teams participating can vary each offseason.
Fans should approach reports from rookie minicamps with caution, as practices are often padless and focus on basic skills rather than competitive performance.
This year, no rookies are generating significant buzz comparable to past standout players like Travis Hunter or Shedeur Sanders.
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Most of these guys wonāt make the final roster or be relevant to fans, but itās still worth noting that a few under-the-radar guys will stick and have a chance to be bottom of the roster players or practice squad candidates in the regular season. Itās hard to discern who those players will be from afar, but these are the most actionable news nuggets for the action-starved fan. Still, nothing is actually real until the pads come on in July.
It may also be worth paying attention to teams that seem to have changed their culture with a new hire or addition to their coaching staff. Considering rookies donāt have prior experience with these new staffs, that may not be the most useful information here, but last summer Ben Johnsonās hard-nosed approach was repeatedly noted by Bears reporters ā¦ and that turned out pretty well! Thatās probably something to tuck away for the future though.
On that front, new Tennessee head coach Robert Saleh held all eight of the Titansā draft picks off the field at rookie minicamp to ease them into NFL life. That right there kind of shows the lack of importance of rookie minicamp, but it is a nice view into how some of these teams view their own operations.
Well ā¦ most things, honestly. There are going to be players who make a handful of notable plays over the minicamp, players who struggle, players who are notably unnotable ā none of it is really projectable. Rookie minicamp is so far removed from the setting of a normal training camp practice, and for good reason. This is about laying the foundation for future work, not immediately evaluating the prospects of every player that attends.
For example, it was reported that Mendoza took more snaps under center over the duration of the Raidersā rookie minicamp than he did in all of college. That makes sense, considering the style of offense that new head coach Klint Kubiak runs, and ultimately this is what football practice is for. It doesnāt mean that under center snaps are going to be a problem for Mendoza, or this is a larger theme related to how college football uses quarterbacks ā itās just a new habit for him to drill.
Think of rookie minicamp as an acclimation period. Everyone is just getting with the program for the first time. The more important and concrete news will start to trickle in during OTAs later this month, but rookie minicamps purposefully donāt have much meat on the bone outside of seeing what longshot players get a chance to come back for training camp.