Despite a 7-9 regular season, the 2010 Seattle Seahawks somehow snuck into the playoffs. Not expected to make much noise, they managed to steal a game from the heavily favored New Orleans Saints, much thanks to Marshawn Lynch's folklore-esque "Beast-Quake" – a game-winning touchdown so huge that the crowd noise actually registered on the Richter scale! Still though, they quickly exited the playoffs after that and moved on from long time signal caller Matt Hasselbeck.

Still searching for the right quarterback the team stumbled to a 7-9 record once again in 2011; this time not making the playoffs...

In that same season, on the Green Bay Packers, was backup quarterback Matt Flynn who was starting in a meaningless Week 17 game. In that game he slung the rock around for a team record 480 yards and another team record six passing touchdowns.

Back to the Seahawks – who were still looking for Mr. Right at the QB position… They jumped all over the then free agent Flynn in the following free agency period, and controversially heaped $20 million on a quarterback with one career start – albeit an historic one.

Headed into the 2012 season it was Flynn who was set to compete with incumbent quarterback Tavaris Jackson for the starting job.

But then something funny happened... Russell Wilson.

After the first few practices, it was clear that this third-round rookie was far superior to the others involved in the competition. He quickly gained favor of the coaching staff and was named the starter before the final preseason game.

Then the rest is history…

Wilson has since been to two Super Bowls, won one of them, been named to three Pro Bowls, and won Rookie of the Year. He’s easily considered one of the top players in the game today and is consistently relied upon as a top fantasy quarterback.

You are probably asking what the point is after this admittedly long-winded tale, and it is this… Training camp matters.

Despite giving a free agent quarterback $20 million and having an incumbent starting quarterback on the roster, Wilson won the job because he showed up the best in camp.

The Seahawks, in this story, are a microcosm for every NFL team before and after them because while they may not have seemed like it at the time, they were actually really close to contending for a championship regardless of finishing back-to-back seasons with sub-.500 records. In the NFL, there is no time to give players a chance because you invested heavily in them, or because they had the starting job last year, last week, or even last play. It’s a put up or shut up league, where everyone is expendable. Any team can be one player away in this league, which is what makes their training camp more important than just about every other major American sport’s. Just look at former fourth-round pick Dak Prescott last season. He entered training camp as the third-string QB, but after injuries to other players, he stole the job. He proved so true in training camp and preseason to be capable of running a locker room in the wake of adversity that Tony Romo – a future hall of famer – couldn’t even get his job back once healthy. He then flipped the script on this team from a 4-12 record the year before to a conference leading 13-3 record. After coming from a humble NFL beginning, he now looks to be a franchise player for years to come.

To get back to the meta point for the purposes of this fantasy draft guide, understand that following training camp battles and early August narratives is just as important as following the injury report and waiver wire during the season. It at times happens quietly, but scenarios have played out where former undrafted free agents can steal starting jobs out of camp headed into the regular season. Jobs won as late as the final preseason game have gone on to win fantasy football titles.

Don’t believe it?

Ask Russell Wilson.