Position battles at 2019 NFL training camp for every single team

Los Angeles Chargers – Offensive guards

Key competitors: Dan Feeney vs. Michael Schofield vs. Forrest Lamp vs. Scott Quessenberry

When you look at this Chargers, you could certainly argue that they are the most complete team in the entire league. They have a bunch of weapons on offense (assuming Melvin Gordon will be there) led by an excellent veteran quarterback and a defense that is loaded with young talent at every level. The two areas that could use some improvement for them was the interior D-line, which they addressed with first-round pick Jerry Tillery, and that offensive line.

Russell Okung and Mike Pouncey are quality starters and at this point, I don’t see rookie Trey Pipkins being ready to take over at right tackle for a struggling Sam Tevi. However, those two guard spots are far from settled. Dan Feeney and Michael Schofield started all 16 games for the Chargers last season, but neither one of them would be in the starting five of at least 20 teams in the league.

The guy I am still hoping on breaking through is Forrest Lamp. I had him as a mid-first round pick in 2017 because I thought his transition inside would be seamless due to the athleticism and aggressiveness. He missed his entire rookie campaign and never really saw the field in year two. And finally, there’s Scott Quessenberry, who I had as a fringe top 100 prospect last year due to the push he created in the run game and how he could hold in a slide protection scheme.

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Los Angeles Rams – No. 2 running back

Key competitors: Malcolm Brown vs. John Kelly vs. Darrell Henderson

Coming off a disappointing Super Bowl loss to the Patriots a lot of people are questioning Jared Goff and that entire Rams offense under Sean McVay. Believe me, they are fine. McVay is still one of the brightest offensive minds in football and I think having Cooper Kupp back will be big for them. However, the one big question mark is the health of their star running back Todd Gurley. None of us really know how bad the arthritis in his knees is and I’m not quite how convinced the Rams front office is, especially after seeing them trade two third-round picks to select Memphis running back Darrell Henderson 70th overall in April.

That kid is an explosive home-run hitter who could produce a few big plays as a rookie even if Gurley is their workhorse. He averaged 8.9 yards through his last season in college, with 5.6 of those coming after initial contact. However, as of now, Malcolm Brown would probably be second on the depth chart after what we have seen from him in that role. Last season he averaged 5.5 yards per touch for L.A. before breaking his clavicle in week 12.

Don’t completely rule out my guy John Kelly in this mix of backs. He might have only been a sixth-round pick last year and just reached 100 scrimmage yards, but I thought he was a third-round talent due to his contact balance and ability to break tackles. Back in 2016 at Tennessee he outrushed Alvin Kamara and was the only real weapon for the Volts the year after. These three could all see action, depending on Gurley’s health.

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Miami Dolphins – Quarterback

Key competitors: Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Josh Rosen

Obviously these two guys are at very different points of their careers, Ryan Fitzpatrick is coming off another season where he got the opportunity to start early and looked like a starter, but quickly showed us that he is Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Rosen, on the other hand. was a top-ten pick just a little more than a year ago, but people have somehow written off already,

The circumstances in Arizona made it tough for anybody to succeed and it is pretty crazy for a team to give up on such a talented guy after just a year, regardless of the connections between their head coach and new quarterback, While I think Fitz is the type of guys who impresses coaches in training camp and will make this a tough one, Rosen should beat him out for the starting gig – he is much younger, is one of the most natural throwers I have ever seen and should be highly motivated to prove people wrong, With that being said, there is a twist in this, there is still the idea of the Dolphins trying to tank for next year’s draft to potentially grab the top QB or maybe their highest player on the board, which the veteran might be more suited to “earn” them

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Minnesota Vikings – Right guard

Key competitors: Danny Isidora vs. Josh Kline vs. Dru Samia

I know everybody wants to put the blame on Kirk Cousins for why the Vikings took such a big step back, going from NFC Championship game participants to missing the playoffs entirely. While the highly compensated QB deserves his fair share, he didn’t have any dependable rushing attack, was under constant pressure and could not rely on that stout defense we have come accustomed with for Minnesota.

This upcoming season the Vikes should feature Dalvin Cook much more heavily and the defense showed that it could still be one of the top units in the league towards the end of the year. The area they really had to address was the offensive line. Minnesota had the third-least total rushing yards of any team in the league and the O-line surrendered the most QB pressures and hurries overall. To change that they used their first-round pick on N.C. State center Garrett Bradbury, who will be a major asset to their outside zone run game due to his ability to get on the move and reach defensive linemen as well a the quick feet in pass pro.

This also allows them to move Pat Elflein to left guard, which I think is a better fit for him. That leaves them with a competition for right guard between three guys. Josh Kline signed a three-year, 16 million dollar contract with them in March, even though he was responsible for 38 pressures himself last year. Danny Isidora was a fifth-round pick for them in 2017, who I thought had a lot of upside, but has only cracked the starting lineup three times since then. And then there’s this year’s fourth-rounder Dru Samia from Oklahoma, who I never expected to fall out of day two due to his athleticism and nasty attitude, but he might need a year to add some functional strength.