Finding breakout players is one of the best ways to gain an edge in Fantasy Football. Whether you’re targeting them in Redraft drafts or acquiring them in Dynasty before their value spikes, hitting on the right breakout candidates can be the difference between a playoff run and a championship. If you’ve followed my content for any length of time, you already know the goal is simple: help you Play 2 Win.
Many Fantasy Football terms are defined differently, so I need to clarify what I mean by a breakout. Your definition, my definition, and the definition of countless others for a Fantasy Football breakout may have some similarities, but can also be looked at completely differently at the same time. I define a breakout as a player who can take a substantial leap in Fantasy Football production or a player who can have an immediate Fantasy Football scoring impact, which in either case is a major positional advantage in lineups for a given year.Â
This year I have four quarterback breakouts to highlight. Let’s get it!
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4 QB Breakouts for Fantasy Football in 2026
1. Jaxson Dart (Giants)
The Giants selected Jaxson Dart with the 25th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, despite rostering both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston heading into the season. Dart played the majority of 12 games as a rookie – here are the highlights from that:
- 5/12 games (41.67%) with multiple passing touchdowns
- 6/12 games (50%) with 54+ rushing yards
- 7/12 games (58.33%) with a rushing touchdown (nine total)
- 9/12 games (75%) with 19+ Fantasy Points
- 6/12 games (50%) with 23+ Fantasy Points
High-upside, dual-threat abilities were on full display. And this was with Dart playing less than a half of football with the alpha wide receiver of the Giants, Malik Nabers.
Nabers will return from his ACL injury at some point in 2026. As a rookie, Nabers produced 1,204 receiving yards and scored seven touchdowns. John Harbaugh was hired as the Giants’ new Head Coach, having a 180-113 record with the Ravens and experience with another dual-threat quarterback in Lamar Jackson. Former 2019 AP NFL Coach of the Year Matt Nagy was hired as the New Offensive Coordinator for the Giants. The Giants also signed new TE1 Isaiah Likely and field-stretcher Darnell Mooney to the roster. In the 2026 NFL Draft, the Giants added to their OL with Francis Mauigoa in the first round and also added receiver Malachi Fields in the third round. Other complementary pieces such as Calvin Austin III, Odell Beckham Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Braxton Berrios were added for depth as well.
Dart will enter 2026 as a full-time starter after balling out for Fantasy Football as a rookie in the window he was the starter. There were improvements to the coaching, the offensive line, and his weapons heading into 2026. Dart’s ceiling is huge, and he can certainly be the next “Drake Maye” or sophomore quarterback to have a dominant Fantasy Football leap.
2. Tyler Shough (Saints)
The Saints selected Tyler Shough in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Shough started the year behind Spencer Rattler, but ended up winning the job and starting Week 9 through the rest of the year. Here are some of his rookie season highlights:
- QB9 in total Fantasy Points while averaging 17.6 Fantasy PPG during this span
- 4/9 starts (44.4%) with 270+ passing yards
- 3/9 starts (33.3%) with multiple passing touchdowns
- 3/9 starts (33.3%) with 32+ rushing yards
- Three rushing touchdowns
- 21+ Fantasy Points in 3/5 of his final games played
Solid Fantasy Production with a strong connection made to Chris Olave, who had a breakout season with 1,163 receiving yards and nine touchdowns through 16 games played.
This offseason, the Saints signed David Edwards (guard), Travis Etienne Jr. (running back), and Noah Fant (tight end). In the NFL Draft, they selected Jordyn Tyson (wide receiver) in the first round, Oscar Delp (tight end) in the third round, Jeremiah Wright (guard) in the fourth round, and Bryce Lance (wide receiver) in the fourth round.
So heading into 2026 as a full-time starter, Shough has an elite pairing with Olave and Tyson, Etienne to complement the passing game on the ground, improvements to the offensive line, and other added depth weapons. Shough is being drafted in the “sleeper” range for quarterbacks, when he has massive upside and key context that indicates a big breakout is coming in 2026. A great quarterback for you to target at cost this season.
For more great fantasy football rankings and analysis, make sure to check out the 2026 FantraxHQ Fantasy Football Draft Kit!
3. Cam Ward (Titans)
The Titans selected Cam Ward with the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Ward played 17 games as a rookie with a stat line of 323 completions on 540 attempts for 3,169 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, seven interceptions, 159 rushing yards, and two rushing touchdowns. Ward had a fairly mediocre rookie season, but there were some positives to take away, squinting:
- Finished eighth in passing attempts
- Finished 12th in deep ball attempts (Playerprofiler)
- Finished 12th in air yards
- Threw multiple passing touchdowns in all four of his final games played
- Five weeks of 250+ passing yards
- Three weeks of 17+ Fantasy Points with a high of 23.9 (Week 12)
This offseason, the Titans hired Robert Saleh as their new Head Coach and Brian Daboll as their new Offensive Coordinator. Wan’Dale Robinson (wide receiver) was signed to a four-year, $70 million contract. Carnell Tate was the first wide receiver selected in the 2026 NFL Draft with the fourth overall pick. Tennessee added Cordell Volson, Austin Schlottmann, and rookie Fernando Carmona to their offensive line. Nicholas Singleton (running back) was a sneaky add as well to their running back room.
Ward ended the year on a positive note in the last couple of starts, and now has massive changes to his environment for 2026. I love the one-two punch of Saleh and Daboll. Wan’Dale and Tate will be a solid pairing on top of Calvin Ridley, Chimere Dike, and Elic Ayomanor for the wide receiver room. Improvements were attempted at the offensive line. Ward might not be a league winner this year, but he can be a guy who will offer plenty of Fantasy Football positive starts as a streamer this season, and I expect him to take a large statistical leap in 2026.
4. Malik Willis (Dolphins)
Malik Willis was signed to a three-year, $67 million contract with the Dolphins this offseason. Malik Willis originally was a third-round selection by the Titans in 2022, where he spent two seasons before playing another two seasons with the Packers. Here are some of his small highlights for Fantasy Football the last two seasons:
- 2025 – Week 17: 18/21 (85.7%) for 288 passing yards, one passing touchdown, 60 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, and 31.5 Fantasy Points
- 2025 – Week 16: 81.8% completion rate on 11 passes, passing touchdown, and 44 rushing yards
- 2024 – Week 3: 13/19 (68.4%) for 202 passing yards, passing touchdown, 73 rushing yards, rushing touchdown, and 25.4 Fantasy Points
- 2024 – Week 2: 85.7% completion rate on 14 passes, one passing touchdown, and 41 rushing yards
At times we saw a solid completion percentage, but the most sticky is the high rushing upside. Which we knew as a prospect.
The Dolphins parted ways with all of Head Coach Mike McDaniel, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. The Dolphins signed wide receivers Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell in Free Agency as well as drafted Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, and Kevin Coleman Jr. Will Kacmarek was added via the draft to the tight end room with Greg Dulcich, and guard Kadyn Proctor was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Outside of running back De’Von Achane, this set of weapons looks like an absolute dumpster fire for Willis in his first year as a starter. I am not necessarily high on Willis due to his situation, but his rushing upside can translate to some Fantasy Football spike weeks. So when you have a highly mobile quarterback who is entering his first year as a starter, this should technically mean his Fantasy Football breakout season, even if it’s for streaming purposes in 2026.
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