Photo: Jim O'Connor, USA Today Sports

The month that encompasses training camp and the first three weeks of the preseason is must-see TV for any fantasy football player. We come into the summer with a set of assumptions and beliefs about the NFL, and each successive day changes the landscape and forces us to re-examine our strategies and rankings going into our drafts. What do we think we know at this crucial juncture before the biggest fantasy draft weekend of the year?

Dallas

QB: Tony Romo going QB10 or later is too good to ignore. He has been a solid QB1 for his whole career and that won’t change this year. The wide receiver corps is deeper with the addition of Terrance Williams and the NFC East should be a shootout division.

RB: Demarco Murray may end up being this decades Fred Taylor/Frank Gore - that is a player who we consider injury-prone until he isn’t. He runs all out and has suffered some serious injuries during his pro and college career, but he is also a proven top 15-20 running back with top 10 upside any time he is on the field. He’s an excellent third-round pick this year….Lance Dunbar looked like a true burner in the open field during the preseason before hurting his floor. If you are going to handcuff a back to Murray or gamble on Murray missing time, Dunbar is the pick, although he might be sidelined early….Fifth-round pick Joseph Randle looked competent in the preseason, but not more. It would take a few injuries for him to be relevant, and his upside would be capped at a low RB2/flex play, even if he was the unquestioned starter.

WR: Dez Bryant looks like he is ready to take over the world this year. If you are going wide receiver in the second, he should be at the top of your list. He has the ability and situation to rival Calvin Johnson’s numbers this year. He basically already did in the second half of 2012….Miles Austin is still a good player. He comes with injury risk, but that is more than baked into his seventh round ADP. Austin has always been at worst a good WR2 when healthy, so he is a terrific pick as a WR3/WR4 this year….Third-round pick Terrance Williams is the wide receiver to turn to if/when Austin has hamstring trouble again this year. Williams is a size/speed receiver who is roughly a rich man’s Robert Meachem….I still like Dwayne Harris and think he can be a fantasy factor if events transpire to get him in the starting lineup at some point this year.

TE: I’ve heard the “Jason Witten will be used more in the red zone” song and dance before. He’s a solid TE1 in PPR leagues, but he doesn’t have Graham/Gronk upside. I would still opt to go big early over hoping Witten is there for me in the fifth round….Second-round pick Gavin Escobar is not ready for prime time and James Hanna clearly ahead of him if Witten were to go down.

NY Giants

QB: Eli Manning should be set up for a bounce-back year with Rueben Randle coming into his own. He and the rest of the team seemed to be running on fumes at times in the second half of 2012. If you decide to totally slough quarterback and go into the year with a Vick/Eli QBBC, it could pay dividends.

RB: David Wilson flashed the big play ability that makes him worth a third-round pick, so don’t shy away from him there. Sure, he’ll split with Andre Brown, and Brown will get the all-important goal line carries, but Jamaal Charles was able to be a top 5 back in 2010 in similar circumstances with Thomas Jones. That doesn’t even factor in the injury upside for Wilson if Brown goes down, which seems inevitable based on his injury history….Brown has the same injury upside if Wilson goes down, and he is a solid RB2BC member if you can get him in the eighth or ninth round, especially in nonPPR leagues. I’ll still be shocked if he plays more than 8-10 games this year….This should lead you to be asking, well who is the #3 back in New York? It looks like seventh-round pick Michael Cox will be that guy. File that name away for later.

WR: I wouldn’t fear Hakeem Nicks in the fifth round, or maybe even the fourth. He seems to be over his early camp injury issues, and he is a bonafide WR1 when he is on the field and even 80-90% of full health….Rueben Randle might be one of the few worthy wide receiver handcuffs to Nicks if you’re really worried about #1 receiver’s health. Randle is good enough to have flex value in deep PPR leagues even if Nicks stays healthy in a win-win scenario….Don’t sweat Victor Cruz’s bruised heel. He was a WR1 last year before the Giants and Hakeem Nicks started stumbling, and he should be one again this year. He’s a value in the fourth round.

TE: Brandon Myers has been quiet in the preseason, and he is looking like a bye/injury/emergency tight end right now. The role is good enough to give him some consistency, but it is looking like most of this 2012 numbers were a garbage time mirage.

Philadelphia

QB: Michael Vick is set up for the best statistical year of his career. He’ll be running more by design, running more plays, and trying to keep up with a leaky sieve defense that will force the Eagles to play a lot of catch-up football. He has looked very comfortable in the Chip Kelly offense, and he should be considered a QB1, even with his very high injury risk. I don’t think it’s crazy to have Vick as QB1, but you should be able to get him two rounds after QB12 goes off of the board to make it worth your while….Nick Foles isn’t going to come to Vick’s upside, but he will be startable in 2QB leagues when Vick goes down, so keep him on waiver wire speed dial in that format.

RB: Like Vick, McCoy is in about the most fertile fantasy ground imaginable for a player with his skillset. The Eagles will spread out defenses and keep them on their heels with tempo. McCoy will find bigger lanes and better shots at big plays, in addition to a heavy dose of receptions out of the backfield. His somewhat severe concussion from 2012 is a pockmark on his stock, but all of the early first-round candidates have at least a little bit of injury concern. He’s still my #2 running back….Bryce Brown is also set up to get enough carries to be a weekly flex play, but if he can’t stop fumbling, look for Chris Polk to be a surprise fantasy factor. Polk isn’t nearly as dynamic as McCoy or Brown, but he is workmanlike in his approach, and he is an outstanding receiver.

WR: DeSean Jackson should have a strong year, as the Eagles will look to get him the ball in space a lot, in addition to being the team’s best deep threat and downfield target when Vick uses his legs to keep plays alive. He’s a fine target as an upside WR3/WR4 in the seventh round….if you’re looking for any kind of consistent production from someone else in this group, good luck. Jason Avant may have marginal PPR value, but otherwise, this group will probably be used more as blockers than receivers. Damaris Johnson might be the exception if Jackson gets hurt and Johnson gets to take over his waterbug with speed role in the offense.

TE: This looked like it would be a tight end-heavy offense based on offseason personnel moves, but only Brent Celek has been a mainstay in the preseason first-team offense. He has limited upside, but will work as a high floor TE2 in a TEBC in deep leagues…. Zach Ertz isn’t getting many snaps, but he could evolve into the team’s best red zone target and best target in the middle of the field. Keep him on waiver wire speed dial….James Casey has been banged up and hasn’t been on the field much more than Ertz has. He’s just a role player at this point.

Washington

QB: For the most part, the coverage of Robert Griffin III III’s rehab from a torn ACL has treated it as no big thing, and I think you should do the same in your fantasy draft. I’m often seeing him as QB12, and he’s a fine prize if you go with that approach at quarterback. He won’t back off on running the ball, but hopefully he’ll get a little smart about sliding. If he does make you nervous, just take an Eli/Dalton/Ben/Schaub type a few rounds later.

RB: There’s no reason to think that Alfred Morris will be anything less than he was last year. If you want to go RB-RB and pick in the mid-first, keep your fingers crossed that Morris is there in the mid-second….Roy Helu is healthy and looking great. He might have marginal PPR flex value as the passing down back, and he’ll be an instant top 15 back if Morris goes down. He’s one of my favorite RB targets in the 12th round or later.

WR: So far, so good with Pierre Garcon and his bum wheel. Garcon was a low WR1/high WR2 playing on the injured foot last year, hopefully he can be even better with an offseason of rest and special shoe this year. He’s worth it as a boom/bust WR2 in the fifth or sixth round….Josh Morgan is a great blocker and good enough receiver, but he probably won’t have consistent value unless Garcon goes down again. He is finally 100% for the first time in two years, so I’m open to his being a good early waiver addition in deep PPR leagues….Aldrick Robinson is the speed merchant, and Leonard Hankerson is the big target. If one emerges as clearly ahead of the other, they could be a terrific pickup if Garcon’s foot doesn’t hold up. It’s more likely that like last year, they’ll split production with Morgan and Santana Moss, making none a consistent fantasy play.

TE: Fred Davis looks good, and has the potential to be a low TE1/high TE2 in this somewhat wide receiver poor offense. Although he has the physical tools to be more than that in fantasy leagues, I don’t see his role in this run-heavy offense being big enough to maximize his value.