Meet the Six NFL Players Poised to Explode onto the Scene in 2026—You Won’t Believe Who’s on the List!
They were rising contributors on their respective teams last season. This year, look for these six players to become NFL breakout stars.
Every NFL season, players rise from being relatively obscure contributors to weekly stars. Some have been staples of teams for years and simply earned bigger or better roles. Others developed over a full offseason, either because of a new coach or maturity in the game.
We evaluated usage, production and efficiency in the 2025 season before projecting opportunities for 2026. This exercise excludes quarterbacks because there aren’t many candidates who fit the “breakout” archetype, as well as rookies, some whom we spotlighted previously.
While multiple players could break out at any position this season, we highlighted a player across six different key positions: running back, wide receiver, tight end, edge rusher, linebacker and defensive back.
The results form a group of rising contributors from 2025 who are positioned to expand their roles in 2026.
Los Angeles Rams RB Blake Corum
Corum had an excellent second season in coach Sean McVay’s Rams offense, even as a backup to Kyren Williams. His raw production on just 145 carries was impressive: 746 yards and six touchdowns. He played on the best offenses in the NFL last season, but he also had 114 fewer carries than Williams in the regular season and 180 fewer when including the postseason.
The split between Corum and Williams will likely move closer to 50-50 in 2026, and the former Michigan product has proven he can be an efficient runner on the ground. He finished fifth, fourth and 11th, respectively, in yards per carry, yards before contact and yards per carry on run disruptions among 49 running backs with at least 100 combined carries in the regular or postseason.
An area Corum didn’t excel in was yards after contact, as he ranked 40th out of the 49 qualified running backs. If he can increase his speed runs, Corum has a chance to become a star at the position. Maybe not as a bell cow, but as a top contributor on a top team.
Houston Texans WR Kayshon Boutte
Boutte was a candidate for this list before last season after he had 43 receptions, 589 receiving yards and three touchdowns for the 2024 New England Patriots. He didn’t break out last season, although he had consistent production with 551 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 10 fewer receptions.
Now with the Texans, Boutte has a new opportunity to build off two solid seasons as a true No. 2 receiver alongside Nico Collins.
Boutte is one of the better downfield targets in the NFL, as his 68.2% burn rate ranked behind only Zay Flowers, George Pickens and Marvin Harrison Jr. among 78 receivers with at least 50 targets and 250 routes in 2025. He also ranked 10th in burn yards per target (12.71) with just one drop and had a 0.913 catch rating that ranked 17th in this group.
Now that he has a clear path to targets in offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s offense, Boutte should see his usage rise. He just needs to establish himself as more than just a deep threat.
Seattle Seahawks TE AJ Barner
Tight end is probably the hardest position to predict a breakout because it’s often difficult to project opportunity and usage. Some tight ends are used more as blockers and others are pure receiver-type players. It really depends on how the offense is built and the skill position players around it.
Barner, though, meets the bar for the type of player who could see a lot of targets on a team with only one clear-cut weapon. Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba enjoyed a ridiculous 33% target share in 2025, a likely unsustainable number. New offensive coordinator Brian Fleury is also a former tight ends coach with the San Francisco 49ers who worked with George Kittle at the position.
Back to Barner, whose 2025 metrics show a player on the rise. Not only did he see a significant increase from his prior season as a rookie with 52 receptions for 519 yards and six touchdowns, but Barner showed he can excel in pressure situations while catching all four targets for 54 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl.
His advanced metrics are elite as well. Barner’s 69.3% burn rate ranked sixth among 43 tight ends with at least 200 routes and 30 targets last season. He also ranked fourth in open rate (86.7%), sixth in catch rating (0.943) and sixth in missed tackles forced per touch (0.188). Barner was solid as a blocker, too, with a 15.5% run disruption rate allowed and a 5% pressure rate allowed – marks that sit in the 75th and 65th percentile, respectively.
Philadelphia Eagles Edge Jalyx Hunt
Death, taxes and an emerging Eagles’ edge rusher. In 2024, it was Milton Williams. Last year, it was Moro Ojomo, who had a career-best six sacks, and Jaelen Phillips, who heads into the 2026 season as a $30 million-a-year player for the Carolina Panthers.
This time around for the Eagles, it’s Hunt. He already had his mini-breakout in 2025 with 6.5 sacks, but he’s now more primed for a bigger role in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit.
Even with Phillips gone, the edge rusher position is still very crowded with Arnold Ebiketie (one of our breakout candidates from 2025), Jonathan Greenard, Nolan Smith Jr. and AJ Epenesa.
Hunt, though, looked just as good as Phillips and Greenard did a year ago. On 232 pass rush snaps, Hunt’s 26% pressure rate tied for with Phillips for 12th among 81 edge rushers with 125+ pass rush snaps. His 9.3% knockdown rate and 7.4% adjusted sack rate also both ranked in the top five.
While Hunt’s run disruption rate leaves a bit to be desired (14.8%, good for 60th), he has the opportunity to seize a tremendous role on the defense, especially as long as Greenard stays on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list with a pectoral injury.
Seattle Seahawks LB Drake Thomas
The reigning Super Bowl champions will likely have one of the better defenses in the NFL again and Thomas will be a part of it. He started 14 games and made an impact last season after not starting any games in his previous two seasons. He finished with the second-most tackles on the team (89), including 10.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
Thomas has an all-around style: His run defense and coverage ratings ranked inside the top 10, while his pressure rating was 22nd. Broken down by metrics, his run disruption rate ranked eighth (12.6%), burn rate allowed 13th (42.6%) and pass rush rate 21st (29.1%) among 71 linebackers with 200+ snaps.
Well-rounded linebackers are hard to come by in the NFL, and while Thomas isn’t the best pass rusher, he’s proven that he can play at all levels of the defense when it comes to his position.
Kansas City Chiefs DB Nohl Williams
There’s a reason the Chiefs felt comfortable enough letting go of starting cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson this offseason. Despite both departures, the secondary could remain elite with Williams leading the group alongside rookies Mansoor Delane and Jadon Canady.
Williams looked like one of the better young defensive backs in the NFL last season after posting a league-best 31.4% burn rate allowed and a 19th-best 7.57 burn yards allowed per target among the 177 defensive backs with 200+ pass coverage snaps. Only seven other defensive backs posted that impressive of a mark, including stars like Derwin James and Riq Woolen.
Defensive Backs in Coverage
Defensive backs in 2025 NFL season with both less than 38% burn rate allowed and less than 8.0 burn yards per target allowed (minimum 200 pass coverage snaps):
- Nohl Williams, Kansas City Chiefs: 31.4 %, 7.57)
- Derwin James, Los Angeles Chargers: 31.9%, 7.64
- Jaylen McCollough, Kansas City Chiefs: 33.3%, 7.07
- Ja’Quan McMillian, Denver Broncos: 35.2%, 7.70
- Riq Woolen, Seattle Sehawks: 35.8%, 7.12
- Benjamin St-Juste, Los Angeles Chargers: 36.6%, 5.93
- Dru Phillips, New York Giants: 36.7%, 7.92
- Rasul Douglas, Washington Commanders: 37.5%, 7.06
While Williams only played in 210 coverage snaps, he still defended seven total passing attempts with the tied-for-13th-best open rate allowed of just 54.3%.
Apart from his metrics, Williams is also in a defensive system that breeds quality players. Watson was a seventh-round draft pick in 2022 before he broke out and became a staple of the Chiefs defense last season. Williams was a third-rounder in 2025 and now steps into a starting role on defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit.
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The post These Six Players Are Primed to Be NFL Breakout Stars in 2026 appeared first on Opta Analyst.
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