We get breakout seasons from a group of NFL players every season. Last year, we saw Rams' rookies Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams shine, while non-rookies like Nico Collins and Raheem Mostert enjoyed career years.
We've shared our favorite rookie sleepers in an article earlier this offseason, but which players entering year 2+ are set for a breakout season? That's exactly what we are looking at in this article.
Olave is our biggest stretch on this list. He’s been solid since New Orleans drafted him, finishing last season as fantasy football’s WR16. However, we think he’ll be a fantasy league winner this year and has a shot to finish 2024 as a top 5 receiver.
The first thing to consider is the lack of competition in the Saints offense. Michael Thomas is no longer with the team, Rashid Shaheed returns as a deep-shot specialist who demands safety attention, and Cedrick Wilson has 34 receptions in his last 30 NFL games. Olave will get as many targets as he can handle this season.
The next major offseason change for Olave comes at offensive coordinator. Klint Kubiak comes in from San Francisco where he served as the 49ers passing game coordinator last season. He replaces Pete Carmichael who left Olave off the field far too much this offseason (76.5% snap share).
Kubiak replaced Bobby Slowik in San Francisco, and we saw how well that hire worked out for the Texans offense last season. We expect Kubiak to have similar success with this New Orleans passing attack, which should make for a monster season for Olave.
It’s been a rocky start for Williams, who came into the league fresh off of one of the best WR seasons we have seen in college football. Williams put up 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns on 79 receptions for Alabama, but tore his ACL playing against Georgia in the national championship game.
College success doesn’t always translate to the NFL, but the type of season Williams had, for Alabama, does translate.
He then served a 6-game gambling suspension which totally derailed his sophomore season, but he certainly came on late scoring two touchdowns in the NFC Championship game.
The Lions moved on from Josh Reynolds this offseason, handing the #2 WR role to Williams. He’s been one of the stars of camp for Detroit with Dan Campbell calling him the team’s most improved player.
Our prediction for 2024? 1,100 total yards and 6 touchdowns, which would be good enough to make him a top-25 fantasy receiver.
Cook finished 2023 #4 in the NFL in rushing yards but makes our list as a breakout star for 2024 because we are betting he leads the league in rushing yards and has a shot to surpass McCaffrey in yards from scrimmage.
Buffalo’s offensive line was one of the best in the NFL last season, and return 5 of it’s top 6 players this year. Combine a skilled offensive line with a QB that does a better job of freezing linebackers than just about anybody in the NFL, and Cook should enjoy massive running lanes again this season.
With Stefon Diggs now in Houston, Buffalo will need to rely on its running game more in 2024. It is worth pointing out that Cook put up 1,122 rushing yards on just 237 carries (4.7 YPC). If we can get him to 280 carries and 60 receptions, a 2,000-yard season is not out of the question.
Looking at this year’s group of tight ends, Trey McBride is the guy who stands out in terms of who has the highest ceiling. His numbers from the 2023 season were impressive (81 receptions, 825 yards, 3 touchdowns), however, it’s even more impressive when you consider he entered week 6 of the season with just 8 receptions for 79 yards and 0 touchdowns.
That means that over the final 12 weeks of the season, McBride averaged 6 catches for 62 yards per game. That’s a 1,000+ yard pace. To put that into perspective, only one tight end (George Kittle) topped 1,000 yards last season.
McBride played the first 9 games of the season with Josh Dobbs and Clayton Tune under center. Entering this season he should benefit from a full offseason with offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and QB Kyler Murray.
We think McBride tops 1,000 yards this season, finishing the year as TE1 in fantasy leagues.