Tag Archives: Breakout Players

NFL Offseason

Second- and third-year breakout candidates for the 2026 NFL season – Defense edition:

Back for the second half of this annual series. With us being in the true dead period of the NFL offseason, with training camps set to start partially about a week from now, we’re talking about young breakout defenders across the league. Yet again, we’ll be looking at seven different players on the other side of the ball.

Defining the term “breakout” can be somewhat volatile, so here are the guidelines I typically set for the defensive players – no front-seven defenders who recorded double-digit sacks or tackles for loss, players who intercepted 4+ passes, earned a Pro Bowl/All-Pro nomination, or are just generally considered one of the better performers at their respective positions. Moreover, I typically stay away from guys who have barely seen action in the pros up to this point. This, for example, makes names like cornerback Travis Hunter (Jaguars) and defensive tackle Walter Nolen (Cardinals) ineligible.

Among last year’s group, Laiatu Latu finished top 20 in total QB pressures with the Colts, Payton Wilson made some key plays as one of the starting linebackers for the Steelers to help them make the playoffs, and Browns safety Ronnie Hickman was credited with only one touchdown allowed on well over 1000 defensive snaps, compared to his nine passes defensed. Here’s who made the list this time around:

 

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NFL Offseason

Second- and third-year breakout candidates for the 2026 NFL season – Offense edition:

It’s that time of the year. We’re in the depths of the offseason, with NFL training camps starting off in a couple of weeks. We’ve spent a lot of time discussing the movement of players and construction of rosters, before examining burning questions for all 32 teams at this stage. So now, let’s bring back my annual two-part series on young breakout players across the league. Once again, we’ll be looking at seven different players on offense and defense each.

To avoid questions around what constitutes a “breakout”, here are the guidelines I set for myself – no 1000-yard rushers or receivers, players that have scored double-digit touchdowns, earned a Pro Bowl/All-Pro nomination, or are just generally considered one of the better performers at their respective positions already. That’s why you won’t see someone like Bears tight-end Colston Loveland show up here. Also, I typically try not to include such players who have barely seen the field as pros, although I did make one exception here.

Drake Maye ended up as the runner-up for league MVP, Rome Odunze and Ricky Pearsall showed promising flashes when healthy, and Tanor Bortolini established himself as a quality starter at center for the Colts, as guys who made the list a year ago. Let’s get to the 2026 version:

 

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NFL Draft, NFL Offseason

Second- and third-year breakout candidates for the 2025 NFL season – Offense edition:

These last two months have been loaded with video content, discussing basically every single offseason move made by all 32 teams and, most recently, going through one burning question for each of them. So now it’s time for one of my favorite projects in written form every year – breakout candidates. Split up into offense and then defense next week, we’re looking at seven players on each side of the ball, coming off their rookie or second season, who I project to make a leap in 2026.

Since it’s tough to set the guidelines for what would qualify a “breakout” for the purposes of this exercise, I’m relying mostly on statistical metrics that the players in question haven’t reached yet – no 1000-yard rushers or receivers, players that have scored double-digit touchdowns, earned a Pro Bowl/All-Pro nominations or are just generally considered one of the better performers at their respective positions already. I also generally stay away from players who have barely seen action in the pros yet. That makes names like Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Steelers offensive tackle Troy Fautanu ineligible, for example.

Chase Brown, Khalil Shakir and Cam Jurgens all delivered on the lofty expectations I set for them last July, while Anthony Richardson is someone I’m still rooting for to reach his sky-high potential. Here’s this year’s list:

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NFL Offseason

Second- and third-year NFL players ready to break out in 2021 – Defense edition:

Once again, we have reached a part of the offseason, where there’s not many transactions or otherwise important moves to analyze around the NFL. So I took the time to put on the tape of players from the 2019 and ’20 drafts and identify which of them are bound to break out this upcoming season.

To avoid subjective interpretation of which players are or are not eligible for making this list anymore, I already stated that they can’t have made a Pro Bowl / All-Pro team so far or are just generally considered one of the top players at their position already, like a Quinnen Williams or Darnell Savage for example. To go along with that, players that have reached double-digit sacks or tackles for loss, or led his team in another major category, are excluded. Oh, and the players that made my list already last year, won’t repeat doing so.

Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates like Antoine Winfield and Jeremy Chinn did not qualify, Derrick Brown may not be in position to rack up big numbers, but he was already dominant for stretches in the middle of that Panthers defense this past season and Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons was too obvious for me, since he was my number two overall prospect a year ago and should be in much better position to make plays, in a more defined role.

Just like the offensive edition, two of the first three players mentioned here were selected in the middle of the first round, but the other six names all went on day two or later.

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