From rookies to vets, East Carolina products are gearing up for another NFL season.<\/p>\n
Some teams are asking first-year players to report as early as this weekend, while others are giving their guys a few more days to prepare their minds and bodies. Either way, there will be at least a handful of former Pirates taking part in training camps nationwide.<\/p>\n
One of those players is Keaton Mitchell, who enters his fourth year in the league. This upcoming season is his first in Los Angeles after joining the Chargers in May.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll share snaps with Omarion Hampton and Kimani Vidal, each confident in their respective abilities under first-year Chargers OC Mike McDaniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m explosive, everybody knows that. But I\u2019m always learning from others \u2014 teaching others if they have any questions,\u201d Mitchell said during a post-minicamp news conference. \u201cBut definitely pushing each other \u2026 and being the best running back room in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2025, Vidal and Hampton combined for over 1,100 yards rushing. The Chargers ranked 12 out of 32 teams, averaging over 121 yards on the ground per game.<\/p>\n
Mitchell specializes in the big play, something that should complement his new teammates. He averaged 5.78 yards per carry in Baltimore last year. Neither Vidal or Hampton totaled more than 4.4 yards per tote.<\/p>\n
Vets are required to report to Chargers camp on July 28.<\/p>\n
Ja\u2019Quan McMillian, Denver<\/p>\n
The fifth-year pro enters a fresh campaign with lofty goals of his own.<\/p>\n
Denver is among the few teams with legit Super Bowl dreams this preseason, coming off a three-point loss to New England in the AFC Conference Championship.<\/p>\n
McMillian, for his part, continued to be a force at starting nickel. He finished with 40 tackles, four sacks and two interceptions. The former undrafted pick-up by the Broncos in 2022 has now played in 34 career games with 13 starts.<\/p>\n
Denver is mandating vets report on July 28.<\/p>\n
Gardner Minshew, Arizona<\/p>\n
After backing up all-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City a year ago, Minshew finds himself in a favorable position this summer.<\/p>\n
The nine-year NFL journeyman finished with just 13 passing attempts in 2025. That number could increase given the Cardinals\u2019 decision to part ways with former franchise QB Kyler Murray. Minshew comes into camp likely battling Jacoby Brissett for the starting position.<\/p>\n
Arizona officially begins its summer circuit next Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Shavon Revel Jr., Dallas<\/p>\n
The highly-touted defensive back lived up to expectations as a rookie, despite missing all of last year\u2019s camp.<\/p>\n
Revel immediately made an impact for an ailing Cowboys secondary. He played in seven games, starting five, and totaled 22 tackles with three passes defended.<\/p>\n
Look for the former third-round draft pick to move up the outside corner pecking order the next few months.<\/p>\n
Dallas has both rookies and vets reporting on July 28.<\/p>\n
Julius Wood, Dallas<\/p>\n
Wood was picked up by the Cowboys this offseason after sitting idle in 2025.<\/p>\n
The third-year safety\u2019s last NFL action came the year prior, when he played nine games for Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Anthony Smith, Dallas<\/p>\n
A seventh-round pick in April, Smith earned himself a viable audition to land a coveted role.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-3 speedster is competing with a dozen other receivers currently listed on the Cowboys\u2019 roster.<\/p>\n
At ECU, Smith made 26 starts with over 1,800 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns. He was named the 2025 Military Bowl MVP after registering a game-record 156 yards receiving with two TDs in the win over Pitt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From rookies to vets, East Carolina products are gearing up for another NFL season. Some teams are asking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[265,5443,125517,375,241,257,258,7,8132,12674,21396,10724,1014,262,2444,2443,122,6,46044,47359,84,47357,1890,47358,288,16678,632],"class_list":["post-948576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-chargers","tag-american-football","tag-american-football-league-teams","tag-anthony-smith-safety","tag-arizona","tag-chargers","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-denver-broncos","tag-football","tag-gardner-minshew","tag-ja","tag-keaton-mitchell","tag-kimani-vidal","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleschargers","tag-national-football-league","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-controversies","tag-nfl-franchise-relocations","tag-nfl-playoffs","tag-nfl-seasons","tag-nfl-teams","tag-nfl-teams-seasons","tag-omarion-hampton","tag-san-diego-chargers","tag-seasons-in-american-football"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}