Adjusting to the NFL from the college ranks is no small task, but with the rate of roster turnover in the league, players are in a hurry to make their names and become stars.
And, well, it happens easier for some guys than others.
In any case, this year, we should see a number of players break out. Some rookies, some second-years, and even some borderline vets! Let’s take a look ahead at ten guys that we expect to break out as a star this season!
Which NFL stars are going to have a potentially great year this season?
Anthony Richardson – QB – Indianapolis Colts
The 2023 – 2024 season was a major what-if type of year for Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts.
The dual-threat quarterback that Indy drafted 4th overall in the 2023 draft out of Florida showed major flashes during his rookie season… putting on full display the athleticism and arm strength that had the Colts infatuated with Richardson during the draft process.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to stay healthy for an extended period and was ultimately limited to just four games during the campaign.
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This had to be particularly disheartening for the Colts, as they ended up piecing together a rather solid team around the rookie quarterback—and they narrowly missed the postseason even with journeyman QB Gardner Minshew under center.
Richardson really could’ve been the piece that put them over the edge and helped them to make a deep run.
The former UF star should be back and healthy this year, and it will be fascinating to see what he looks like after getting a full offseason of reps with Michael Pittman Jr., not to mention the addition they made through the draft, bringing in former Longhorn standout, wide receiver, Adnoai Mitchell and help on the offensive line with Matt Goncavles and Taner Bortolini in the third round out of Pitt and the fourth round out of Wisconsin respectively.
The sample size may have been small in 2023… but Richardson has all of the makings of an NFL star – and with the pieces that Indy has brought in this offseason, he could be poised for a breakout season.
Khalil Shakir – WR– Buffalo Bills
The 2024 – 2025 season looks like it will be a promising one for Khalil Shakir, who is up in Buffalo. A huge opportunity has opened up for him to catch passes from all-world quarterback Josh Allen now that Stefon Diggs has been traded and Gabe Davis is departing for a fat bag of cash, up to $50 mil, to be precise, down in Jacksonville via free agency.
He only saw limited action during his first couple of pro seasons, but Shakir has managed to snag 49 passes for 772 yards and three touchdowns – and the majority of that production is skewed by his play down the stretch of last season.
Now that he is going to be asked to evolve from a complementary piece in the office to a main contributor – the sky is the limit for Shakir, especially with someone like Allen throwing the speedster the ball.
We may look up at the end of the season and see Shakir with well over 1000 receiving yards.
Jake Ferguson – TE – Dallas Cowboys
There is no doubt about it… Jake Ferguson has all of the makings of the next great tight end in Dallas.
The burly Cowboys standout was taken in the fourth round of the 2022 Draft and had the luxury of playing behind—and at times—alongside a certified pro in Dalton Schultz.
This clearly paid dividends for his development, as Ferguson has an extremely reliable pair of hands and runs very crisp routes for a tight end.
What really sets him apart from some of the other great pass-catching tight ends in the game today is that Ferguson is also a highly proficient blocker in both the passing and running game, vastly increasing the Cowboys’ optionality with him on the field.
I’m not saying that he will be Rob Gronkowski straight of the gates next year, but he could very well serve a similar role to what the Hall of Famer did for the Pats during their glory days!
Because now that the aforementioned Dalton Schultz has taken the highway to join the Texans, Ferguson has a huge opportunity to fill that void for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.
2024 could be a BIG season for Ferguson.
Kyler Gordon – CB – Chicago Bears
The 2022 NFL Draft was rich with talent – and this may be the year that we see those seeds come into bloom.
Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon, who they got as a steal in the early part of the second round, is a great example of that.
He had some growing pains during his rookie year when the Bears toggled him back and forth between outside coverage and the slot, but after exclusively playing nickel corner in ’23, he really started to come into his own.
Gordon not only has the quickness and agility to excel in zone and man coverage, but he also has a rare football IQ for a player of his seniority. His ability to read quarterbacks and make plays on the ball could be game-changing for the Bears’ defense this season.
Which, by the way, is a unit that we saw improve drastically during the second half of last year!
This means that now, with all of the excitement rightfully building around the offense, if Gordon is able to develop the way that he projects to, he may elevate the Bears’ secondary to one of the best around the league, which is a scary proposition for the other teams in the NFC Central.
Travon Walker – Edge – Jacksonville Jaguars
Don’t look now… But the Jacksonville Jaguars are building something down in Duval.
And look for Travon Walker, the first overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft—out of the University of Georgia—to be a huge part of that.
The Bulldogs star admittedly hit the broad side of the learning curve at points during his rookie season, but he really came on strong in the second half of the season for the Jags and finished the year with ten sacks.
Now that he is up to speed on what it means to play NFL football from a mental and strategic standpoint, he should be a force to be reckoned with… Because when it comes to the physical aspect, there are few on part with Walker. He stands 6’5″ and weighs 275 pounds, creating a lethal combination of size, speed, and power in a way that few edge rushers can match.
Walker is also uniquely versatile, as he can play both the run and pass games rather well—even if he gets slapped with a double team by the opposing o-line.
With another full offseason under his belt to hone his pass-rushing techniques and build on the experience that he’s had in the league over the past two seasons, Walker is poised to be a real breakout NFL star for the Jags this year.
Look for that double-digit sack total to climb in a meaningful way in 2024!
Marquise Brown – WR – Kansas City Chiefs
Former 25th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, has had a rather tumultuous start to his professional career.
Not tumultuous in the same way as his cousin, Antonio Brown, but still—it hasn’t been all smooth sailing. He had a solid first couple of years in Baltimore, where he was drafted, as they stabilized the quarterback position in the post-Joe Flacco era—and his best season came in 2021 when he narrowly eclipsed the 1000 receiving yard mark… but the team promptly shipped him out to the desert, along with a third-round pick, to join Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for Arizona’s 23rd overall pick.
And while there were high hopes for him with the Cards, that whole situation devolved rather quickly through no fault of Brown’s with Murray’s bizarre hot and cold relationship with the team—and ultimately his ACL injury that cost him a significant chunk of games during Browns tenure in Arizona.
2024 could be the year that we finally see him earn the nickname Hollywood, though, because he has signed a team-friendly deal with the Kansas City Chiefs to catch passes from Patrick Mahomes… and well… that is just about as good as it gets.
It will be scary for opposing defenses to try to contain the speedster, with Travis Kelce drawing so much attention from the defensive secondary underneath.
This is a classic rich get richer situation with the Chiefs being able to sign Brown, but it should bode well for both parties. Mark our words, 2024 will be the breakout year for Marquise Brown!
Breece Hall – RB – New York Jets
Breece Hall is arguably had his breakout season in 2023, when his games played went from 7 his rookie season to 17—and we got to see the otherworldly explosive running back put the Jets offense almost entirely on his back after Aaron Rodgers went out to the tune of 223 carries for 994 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, and an additional 76 receptions for 591 yards and four scores…
But think about what those numbers could look like this year if Aaron Rodgers plays more than, oh, I don’t know, four snaps or whatever it was! Not to mention that New York spent a lot of resources this offseason retooling its offensive line to protect the veteran NFL star.
That investment should also pay dividends for Hall!
The Jets offense could be one of the most dynamic groups in the league this season—and Hall’s numbers could be scary good playing off play action with Rodgers, so we reserve the right to use the breakout tag!
After all, there is a legitimate chance we see Hall in the MVP discussion at the end of the season, like Christian McCaffrey was this year for San Fran. Winning it as a running back is a pipe dream, but look for that kind of season out of the young Jets running back!
Nakobe Dean – LB – Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles’ defense broke down during the stretch run of the 2023 – 2024 season, so Philly will need some of its young talent on that side of the ball to take a major step forward this year.
And based on what we saw before injuries derailed his 2023 season—former University of Georgia star linebacker Nakobe Dean could be THE shot in the arm to revitalize a unit and this NFL team that was oh-so-close to winning the Super Bowl just two seasons ago.
“He didn’t miss a tackle,” Jonathan Macri of PFF explained: “Something that other Eagles defenders struggled with this past season. Once healthy, Dean should step right back into a starting role and deliver the quality linebacker play that Philadelphia was searching for this season.”
Anyone who watched the Eagles down the stretch of last year could probably tell that, but still…
Dean may be just what the doctor ordered for Philly—and he will soon reap the benefits by becoming an NFL star in his own right.
Tyjae Spears – RB – Tennessee Titans
Now that the throne in Nashville has been vacated – by the departure of long-time stalwart, Derrick Henry, there is a huge opportunity for the Titans promising, upstart running back Tyjae Spears to step in and step up.
During his limited usage as a rookie, he looked very explosive. In fact, during the one game he managed to get double-digit carries in 2023, he went for 74 yards and looked darn good doing it.
Now that Brian Callahan has taken over the coaching staff, Spears may very well find himself moving from understudy to the main attraction in the Music City.
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah – LB – Cleveland Browns
2023 was a big year for Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and the Cleveland Browns. The team navigated a whirlwind of injuries, including to their high-price-tagged quarterback, Deshaun Watson, and managed to make a shocking playoff run.
And Owusu-Koramoah… well… he was a huge part of that. Especially down the stretch of the season, when the Browns coaching staff finally took the training wheels off, and he saw his defensive snaps jump from 65% through Week 10 to 86% for the remainder of the year.
The linebacker finished with the 20th highest grade according to PFF and it really does look like he could be one of the topline, high-impact stars for the Browns for years to come. It should be fun for the good folks of the Dawg Pound to watch the exciting young star develop this year and to see how he builds on his early success.
