2026 Breakouts

(Nothing in this post was created using any sort of generative AI)

I think that this article will be an annual one. Every year, each team will be looking for an unexpected (or maybe expected in some cases) breakout player that will give their team that needed boost to reach their goal. Whether that is to win the championship or just make the playoffs, breakout players are what make the fantasy leagues fun and are what make trading risky and enjoyable. Just like last year, I have chosen one potential player from each team that could have a breakout season and explain why I believe they could breakout.

Skattebeast - Chig Okonkwo

Chig Okonkwo recently signed a free agent deal with the Washington Commanders for 3 years and 27 million dollars (9/year). In his 4 years with Tennessee, Okonkwo never had a top 20 season in points among tight ends, and never scored more than 124 fantasy points in a season. Now, Okonkwo is paired with Jayden Daniels who has loved to throw to his TE in the past. In Daniels' only fully healthy season, Zach Ertz was the TE7 with 177 fantasy points. At this point, Chig is a better receiving tight end than Ertz was then, boding well for a big season for him. Additionally, Okonkwo does not have a lot of target competition at tight end and as a receiver in general. The Washington tight end room consists of Okonkwo, John Bates (who is primarily a blocking TE), Ben Sinnott (16 career catches), and Colson Yankoff (2 career catches). This group of TEs tells me that Okonkwo will only need to be a good receiver and not a blocker which suits his skill set perfectly. The only bonafide wide receiver on the team is Terry Mclaurin, but aside from him Okonkwo will have to fight Antonio Williams (rookie), Luke McCaffrey, Jaylin Lane, Treylon Burks, and Dyami Brown. Just not that good of a group, I could definitely see Okonkwo having a breakout season and being borderline top 10 in points among TEs.

Cokehead - Jalen Coker

It actually pains me to do this because of how much Tristan glazes this guy, and said he was the most valuable asset in fantasy not too long ago. Jalen Coker had a slow start to his 2025 season missing the first 6 weeks of the season after straining his quad. After week 7 (slow ramp up week), Coker averaged 9.99 fantasy points per week. That is a solid number for a guy in his second season, but that's not what is intriguing about him. Coker profiles as a big slot receiver but has the ability to move around the field which is quite valuable to a team like the Panthers. ReceptionPerception hasn't released anything on Coker for the 2025 season, but his rookie year he had a success rate of 70.5% against man coverage and 78.4% against zone coverage.

These numbers are quite solid and prove that Coker can at least hang around in this league, similar to another UDFA a few years ago in Jakobi Meyers. The competition Coker has on the Panthers isn't particularly strong. Aside from Tetairoa McMillan, Coker has to compete against guys that are role-specific like Chris Brazzell, Jimmy Horn, and John Metchie or guys that are just not as talented like Xavier Legette or David Moore. Coker has a clear path to plenty of playing time, will be the clear WR2 in 2-WR sets for the Panthers, and boasts pretty good success rates against man and zone coverage. The Panthers clearly like Coker seeing as they gave him a good extension before he breaks out and demands more money. Signing him to a 3 year deal worth up to 41 million (after incentives), indicates that the Panthers have full trust in Coker becoming an integral part of their offence and breaking out this season.

Walk me Jeanty - Kenneth Walker and Rome Odunze

I started writing this before the Odunze-Tyson trade and had already written the Odunze section for my own team so you’re getting a 2for1 here.

This one is a little easier to see than some of the others. Walker has already flashed his talent in Seattle but was held back by being in a committee with Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnet unfortunately got injured during Seattle's divisional playoff game against San Francisco, but as the main back Walker totaled 313 yards on 63 attempts for a good 4.8 per carry and 4 touchdowns. Over a 17 game season that is 357 carries, 1773 yards, and 22 touchdowns and 305 fantasy points (not counting and receiving stats). Those stats are probably the 100th percentile outcome for him, but if you include some receiving work, he could definitely hit 300 fantasy points this year.

Walker now signed a large 3 year deal making over 14 million per year in a backfield with very little talent. Only having to compete with rookie Emmett Johnson, and two way less talented players in Emari Demercado and Brashard Smith, Walker should have no issues taking a large majority of the rushing and receiving work for the Chiefs. Lastly, with Mahomies returning from his ACL tear, I would expect the team to lean on the run game and short passing game to ease him back into things. This bodes well for Walker who should benefit the most from this. I expect a top-10 RB season from Walker.

You can never be wrong, just early. I am back to beat the Rome Odunze drum because this guy is a dog. Odunze put up a disappointing season, despite starting the season HOT averaging 21.2 points in his first 4 games, but ended up missing 5 games with a fractured foot that affected him throughout the year. He injured his foot in "late October" and played through it for about a month but it clearly affected him. After the week 5 bye (weeks 6 to 13), Odunze averaged just 9.5 fantasy points, and wasn't much better in the NFL playoffs with back to back 7.4 point performances. The reason I still believe in Odunze is because he is still very talented as a route runner and has a great feel for the game.

The route tree is nearly all green like it was in his rookie season, and ReceptionPerception charted Odunze with a 76.1% success rate against man coverage (good for 85th percentile). Odunze clearly has the talent to be a really good wide receiver in this league, but he just hasn't had the luck just yet. The competition is lessened this season with DJ Moore being traded to the Bills, but will still have to compete against Luther Burden and Colston Loveland for targets. The Bears offence continues to improve as Caleb develops and I think Rome can finally breakout this season.

ACee/DeeC - Oronde Gadsden

For such a young team, it is a little surprising that I don’t have many breakout options. Gadsden is an interesting one because he had a few HUGE games last year and then pretty much did nothing afterwards. In weeks 6-9 Gadsden totaled 24 catches, 377 yards, and 2 touchdowns for 77.2 fantasy points. All in just 4 weeks. Unfortunately, in the 11 other games he played, he only scored 66.7 fantasy points. A large part of this massive fall off is due to injuries to the offensive line. The Chargers lost Rashawn Slater (star OT) prior to the season, then lost Joe Alt (star OT) during the season. Their offensive line was decimated and the Chargers had to change their offensive scheme. They leaned more on the quick game and used their tight ends for blocking instead of as receiving threats.

This year will hopefully be different. Slater and Alt should be healthy, and the Chargers upgraded their Center and depth at Tackle. By drafting Jake Slaughter (elite name btw) and Travis Burke, the Chargers won’t have to rely on the quick game nearly as much, and can get their best weapons out in the receiving game. Including Oronde Gadsden. Now, some of you might be thinking “didn’t the chargers sign Davis Njoku as a free agent?” And you’d be correct. But if he’s so good, why did he sign such a small contract? 1 year for 3 million with only 850k guaranteed. If he’s so good why didn’t literally any other team pay more for him? Because he’s washed and missed 4 games last year with 2 separate knee strains. Gadsden will be the sole/primary receiving tight end and with Mike McDaniel at OC, Gadsden should be in for a big season.

CMC Revenge Year - Ladd McConkey

This might be a little bit of a stretch because Ladd had a really good rookie season and was a victim of the sophomore slump but people are too low on Ladd. Ladd is coming off a pretty disappointing 2025 season in which every single stat fell off compared to his rookie season. A lot of this is the same as the Gadsden fall off I mentioned earlier. The Chargers were missing their two best offensive linemen and that really affected the offence in general. The reason why I believe a big breakout is coming for Ladd is 2 main reasons: still an elite route runner, and Mike McDaniel is an offensive genius.

Despite the down statistical year, Ladd is still the same elite player he was in his rookie season. He is still a fantastic route runner that understands how to get open, and the targets should return to normal in 2026. The McDaniel side is this: He knows how to get the ball to his best players. In Miami, McDaniel used creative ways of getting Tyreek, Waddle, and Achane the ball that included lots of pre-snap movement. He will certainly bring that creativity to Los Angeles and figure out easier ways to get the ball to the best players on the Chargers (Ladd). I predict a big year for Ladd.

Mahomies over Mahoes - Ricky Pearsall

Despite the glazing from the team owner, I am not here to discuss Michael Wilson. I am here to prop up a maybe underrated wide receiver that has flashed their potential. In 2025, Pearsall had a strong start to the season with 15.2 ppg over the first four weeks, but suffered a PCL injury that slowed him down. Pearsall missed 6 weeks and aggravated the injury later in the season as it clearly affected him on the field. Even through the injuries, Pearsall's tape was encouraging. He put up respectable success rates against man and zone defences (71.6% and 79.3% respectively), and has a nearly perfect route tree.

Aside from his actual talent, Pearsall doesn't have a ton of actual competition at wide receiver. Mike Evans is still a good receiver but plays a different role on the offence so there shouldn't be much clashing there, plus it will just be them two in 2WR sets for the 49ers. Outside of Evans, the 49ers will roll out Christian Kirk, De'Zhaun Stribling and a bunch of other filler guys. At tight end, Jake Tonges will be an okay receiving option for this team while Kittle recovers from his torn achilles but will not take a majority of the targets away from anyone.

Ricky Pearsall has the talent to breakout, and the competition is not crazy enough to hold him back.

Njigbas in Paris - Jonathon Brooks

Jonathon Brooks has had the worst start to an NFL career you could possibly have. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2024 NFL draft after suffering a torn ACL in one of his college football playoff games. This is an unfortunate setback as a rookie but he was able to return late in the 2024 season. Even worse, Brooks suffered ANOTHER ACL tear in the same knee. He missed the entire 2025 season but should be back this season.

The argument for Brooks is less about himself, and more about the competition in Carolina. Chuba Hubbard was the guy there for 2 seasons before losing the starting job to Rico Dowdle. Dowdle has since signed a contract with the Steelers making Hubbard the perceived starter once again. Trevor Etienne is the only other RB of note on the roster and he only had 20 carries and 3 targets last season making him just a rotational back. Really, if Hubbard lost the starting position once, he could certainly lose it again to Brooks.

PooShiesty9 - Luther Burden

Luther Burden is a popular pick to have a breakout fantasy season for a couple of reasons. For one, Burden rocked while Odunze was out with his injury. Averaging 16.95 points per game, which would be good for WR10 on the season. With DJ Moore now being traded to the Bills, Burden will not have to compete for playing time, he will be on the field for all 2WR sets. This gives him even more chances to show his talent. Additionally, his skill set works perfectly in tandem with Odzune as their playstyles don't overlap, and they aren't shoved into just one role.

Ben Johnson doesn't want to put his offensive weapons into a box and only play one spot on the field. Rome and Burden can both play anywhere on the field. While Rome will typically play the outside X more than Burden, and Burden the slot more than Rome, they will both be moved around the offence to fit what Ben Johnson wants. With DJ Moore gone, both of these players will be moved around even more than they already have to give their offence as much of an advantage as possible.

The next reason people (and I) think Burden will have a breakout season, is that he is extremely talented. While these rookie numbers may not look exceptional compared to some other players I have brought up, the 70/80% success rate against man and zone are the benchmarks Reception Perception says rookies should be hitting if they are to be good-to-great in their career. While Burden struggled a little with press coverage, he was off the line of scrimmage in more than half his snaps last season, and will probably continue next year to give him more of an advantage on the defence.

Burden is an exceptionally talented receiver on an up and coming team (and arguably already arrived team) and the mix of his talent, and the competition on the roster make it seem like he is poised for a big breakout season, and I agree.

Tony Dorset - Tyler Shough

In about 7 of the last 10 ish years, there has always been a young QB that jumps from around 0 EPA to top 2-3 in the league (past QBs to make that jump are Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love, and Drake Maye). EPA stands for Expected Points Added and is an advanced analytic that measures how valuable a play was by calculating how much it increases or decreases the likelihood of a team scoring. Generally positive plays generate positive EPA and negative plays generate negative EPA. Fairly simple to grasp but never the be all and end all. Tyler Shough is a prime candidate to improve to that top 2-3 in the league in EPA and a lot of it has to do with his situation.

Shough is coming off a decent year in which he started 9 games for the Saints with a 5-4 record. In those 9 starts he averaged 250 pass yards, 1.1 pass TDs, and 0.6 INTs. Pretty solid numbers for a team that couldn't run the ball if their life depended on it. Shough mostly fed Chris Olave on offence turning him into a prime fantasy asset, but the offence has gotten quite the upgrade. In free agency the Saints SPENT money this year. Paying Guard/Tackle David Edwards 15m annually over 4 years, and Travis Etienne 12m annually over 4 years. Those two give a massive boost to the offence. Edwards provides much needed O-Line help and Etienne fixes the RB problem. Next, the Saints drafted Jordyn Tyson number 8 overall to create a nasty duo with Olave.

This offence is starting to look quite good and all Shough has to do is feed Olave and Tyson, and NOT put them in harm's way. Shough could be in for a breakout season with this revamped offence.

Chase-ing the Dynasty - Gunnar Helm

Gunnar Helm is a solid player. Pretty good receiver but an average at best blocker for his position. Helm suffers from not being elite at any aspect but is just good enough at everything else to be valuable. Helm's breakout will most be due to the Titans not having many good receiving options on the team. The team is loaded with average to pretty good receivers that will be rotated on and off the field a lot. But Helm will not be rotated off the field as much because the TE room is bad. Helm, while not a special player, is in a special circumstance that allows him to get on the field a lot and be a reliable target for Cam Ward.