2026 Fantasy Football: Early breakout candidates for each AFC West team
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NFL Free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft will completely shake up the fantasy football landscape in the coming months.
Before the roster movement begins, Justin Boone is identifying one fantasy-relevant player from every team who’s most likely to break out during the 2026 season.
Early Breakout Candidates
Early AFC West Breakout Candidates
Denver Broncos - RJ Harvey, RB
The Broncos backfield was one of the easiest to project prior to the 2025 season. J.K. Dobbins began the year as the starter, but like every other year of his career, he ultimately suffered an injury that caused him to miss significant time.
Prior to getting hurt, Dobbins was the RB22 in fantasy points per game (11) with Harvey playing a part-time role that let him be the RB33 (8.7 FPPG) and a boom-or-bust flex option during that stretch.
However, once Dobbins was sidelined, it was Harvey’s time to shine. From Week 11 on, the rookie was the RB9 on a per game basis (15.3 FPPG) with four top-12 weekly finishes over his last six outings.
Even if you count his stats before Dobbins went down, Harvey was the RB22 on the season, which is a very strong debut campaign that he will only build on moving forward.
Harvey showed us more than enough in terms of on-field talent and quality production to draft him as a fantasy RB2 with RB1 upside in 2026.
Fantasy breakout potential: ★★★★★
Kansas City Chiefs - Noah Gray, TE
The Chiefs offense has a lot of question marks heading into next season, including Patrick Mahomes’ health coming off a torn ACL in December, Rashee Rice’s off-field issues and Travis Kelce’s potential retirement.
Though the 36-year-old Kelce is on the downside of his career, he didn’t miss a game this season and continued to produce en route to a TE8 fantasy finish.
It’s unclear if Kelce will return for another campaign, but if he does he’ll turn 37 during the season.
The Chiefs signed Gray to a three-year contract extension in 2024, which positions him as the next man up when Kelce departs.
While Gray had a very quiet year stats-wise, he’s previously displayed an ability to get involved in the passing game, including a 40-catch, 437-yard, five-touchdown stat line a year ago.
If Kelce is out of the picture, Gray will have a chance to emerge as the new starter in Kansas City, making him a deeper breakout target.
Fantasy breakout potential: ★★☆☆☆
Las Vegas Raiders - Jack Bech, WR
The history of receivers with limited production during their rookie season who go on to become quality fantasy options is far from extensive.
Bech managed only 20 receptions for 224 scoreless yards in his first season with Raiders, despite being part of a fairly wide-open depth chart in Vegas.
However, the second-round pick did pop up in the box scores with stat lines of 6-50-0 and 2-43-0 over his final four outings, giving Raiders fans and fantasy managers some small glimmer of hope for his future outlook.
The team will also likely have a new quarterback under center in 2026, which should provide an upgrade after veteran Geno Smith struggled to get comfortable in his first year with the club.
Bech remains a long shot to emerge as a meaningful fantasy contributor, but the 23-year-old still offers good contested catch ability and strong hands. If the Raiders can improve the overall environment on offense, we should see Bech develop into more of a playmaker than we saw this season.
Fantasy breakout potential: ★★★☆☆
Los Angeles Chargers - Omarion Hampton, RB
Hampton’s rookie season was marred by injuries both to himself and his offensive line.
Even so, the 22-year-old still finished as the RB16 with 13.3 FPPG, while missing nearly half the season.
It was also promising to see Hampton post double-digit fantasy points in six of his last seven outings, despite some of the struggles the Chargers’ offense dealt with down the stretch.
Better injury luck should go a long way toward improving the overall success of this attack in 2026, but the expected arrival of Mike McDaniel as the new offensive coordinator should have fantasy managers excited.
In the last three years alone, McDaniel was responsible for four fantasy RB1 finishes with De’Von Achane accomplishing the feat three times and Raheem Mostert getting there once.
Coming from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, McDaniel can scheme up a rushing game with the best of them and he has all the pieces in place to get a monster year out of Hampton.
Consider Hampton a top-10 back heading into next season. He’ll be one of my favorite picks in Round 2 if his ADP stays there.
Fantasy breakout potential: ★★★★★
Early Breakout Candidates
