Top Breakouts
We're counting down the 10 names most likely to outplay their price this summer.
#10: Tyler Shough (QB - NO)
Shough's rookie tape had a slow start and a hot finish… and the Saints spent the whole offseason building around the finish.
From Week 15 on, he threw for 272, 308, and 333 yards in three straight games: the exact form the coaching staff is betting his 2026 season on.
Kellen Moore returns for Year 2 with full staff continuity, and Shough now gets a full offseason as the starter for the first time in his career.
New Orleans used its top pick on WR Jordyn Tyson and signed Travis Etienne Jr. to pair with Alvin Kamara… real weapon upgrades on top of his existing chemistry with Chris Olave. Reception Perception charting also credits him with an 80.7% success rate against zone coverage and a 78.9% success rate on intermediate throws.
A full season, a full arsenal, and a QB who was already trending up in December — Shough is a legitimate late-round streamer with QB1-week upside.
#9. Greg Dulcich (TE - MIA)
Efficiency plus opportunity is the breakout formula, and Dulcich checks both boxes in Miami.
He finished 2nd among all NFL tight ends in yards per route run (2.64) and yards after the catch per reception (7.69) last season.
He proved his health late, catching 26 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown over his final 10 games.
Miami's WR and TE rooms are the most deeply discounted in fantasy football. There’s a massive target vacuum, and Dulcich has already carved out a role as one of Malik Willis’s guys.
He's playing for a new contract on a offense with almost no established competition for targets… that's exactly the kind of setup that produces TE sleepers.
#8. Kenneth Walker (RB - KC)
Walker left a crowded Seattle backfield with questionable blocking at times for a clean bell-cow shot in Kansas City.
The Chiefs made him their lead back with a 3-year, $45 million deal ($28.7M guaranteed) after Isiah Pacheco's departure.
He led the NFL in juke rate (31.7%) and ranked 6th in evaded tackles (80) last season… elite play-making even in a timeshare role.
He now runs behind an elite interior offensive line after years in Seattle, and joins a Chiefs offense that ranked just 31st in 15+ yard runs a year ago. Walker is the RB3 in explosive runs since 2022.
Kansas City just handed him nearly $30 million guaranteed to be the workhorse, so the touch count is going up from here.
#7. Luther Burden (WR - CHI)
With DJ Moore now in Buffalo, Burden inherits the WR1 job in a Ben Johnson offense, and the rookie tape says he's ready for it.
He's the consensus favorite to lead the Bears in targets and receiving in 2026 following the Moore trade.
He ranked 2nd in the NFL in yards per route run (2.62) as a rookie, trailing only Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba among receivers with at least 40 targets.
He closed the season on a heater: 21 catches, 324 yards, and a touchdown on 26 targets over his final four regular-season games, then commanded 14 targets across two playoff games.
Caleb Williams already trusts him, and some of the target competition just left town, so Burden looks primed for a true Year 2 leap.
#6. Emeka Egbuka (WR - TB)
Mike Evans is gone to San Francisco, and Egbuka is the clear heir to Tampa Bay's WR1 role.
He's the consensus favorite to step into the Buccaneers' undisputed primary receiving role after Evans' departure.
Before a late-season dip, he posted 40 catches for 677 yards and 6 touchdowns through his first nine rookie games.
He ranked 9th in the NFL in targets (127) as a rookie and finished 2nd in unrealized air yards (959)… a sign of real ceiling once the efficiency catches up to the volume, and he already ranked 2nd in the league in deep targets (27).
The volume was already there as a rookie WR2. Now he's the alpha, and the early-down efficiency has real room to grow.
Tomorrow's list flips to the top 5, and it opens with a former WR1 who lost his top target this offseason and might be the single biggest value on this entire countdown.
-Joe