• Chase Brown has big shoes to fill in the Bengals' backfield: With Joe Mixon having been traded to the Houston Texans, Brown can carve out a bigger role for himself in the Bengals' offense in 2024, even after the team added Zack Moss in free agency.
• DeMarvion Overshown will look to bounce back from a season-ending injury: He missed out on a rookie campaign in which he was expected to compete for a starting role.
• Get a head start on fantasy football: Use PFF's fantasy football mock draft simulator to create real live mock draft simulations to get ready for your live draft!
Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
With the 2024 NFL season slowly creeping up, we’re looking at PFF data collected over the past few seasons to identify potential breakout candidates at each position on offense and defense.
Here is our summer 2024 All-Breakout team.
Quarterback: Will Levis, Tennessee Titans
Levis flashed some talent in his rookie campaign, recording three PFF game grades of 70.0 or higher. While he finished the year with only eight passing touchdowns, four of which came in his debut against the Atlanta Falcons, his 5.9% big-time throw rate was tied for the fifth among quarterbacks with 100 or more dropbacks.
Running Back: Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
With Joe Mixon having been traded to the Houston Texans, Brown can carve out a bigger role for himself in the Bengals' offense in 2024, even after the team added Zack Moss in free agency.
Brown proved himself to be an effective receiver out of the backfield down the stretch in his rookie season, with 11 receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown from Week 14 through the end of the year.
Wide Receiver: Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals
Wilson had a solid rookie season despite the Cardinals' quarterback issues. Particularly appealing for his 2024 prospects is how he ended 2023: averaging 3.52 yards per route run in the season finale and catching all six targets thrown his way for 95 yards.
Wide Receiver: Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills
While the Bills' trade of Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans will open up the opportunity for Shakir, it was how he ended the 2023 season that gives credence to his breakout potential. Over the Bills final five games, including the playoffs, he saw 24 targets and turned them into 23 receptions for 264 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Wide Receiver: Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints
An undrafted free agent in 2022, Shaheed has had breakout games in his career but could turn that into a breakout season in 2024. He averaged 1.67 yards per route run in 2023, but his production was more feast or famine. He averaged 2.30 yards per route run or better in four games and was below 1.00 in six outings.
Tight End: Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers
You could make the case here for either second-year Packers tight end. Musgrave dropped just one of the 41 catchable passes thrown his way in 2023 and finished his rookie season with three straight 70.0-plus PFF receiving grades.
Left Tackle: Bernhard Raimann, Indianapolis Colts
Raimann impressed as a rookie in 2022 but was even better last year, earning an 81.3 PFF pass-blocking grade that ranked ninth among all offensive tackles. He can earn himself a lot of future money with a standout 2024 campaign.
Left Guard: Matthew Bergeron, Atlanta Falcons
The 2023 second-round draft pick out of Syracuse took his lumps as a rookie but had enough flashes for there to be optimism that he can become a plus starter for the Atlanta Falcons in 2024. Bergeron had four games last season where he didn’t allow any pressure in pass protection.
Center: Joe Tippmann, New York Jets
It’s far from ideal for a rookie center to go from having a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers to an uncontained mess at the position, as Tippmann experienced last year after Rodgers' season-ending injury.
There were some real positives for the second-round draft pick, though, as he finished his debut campaign with a 67.4 PFF run-blocking grade, which ranked second among all rookie interior offensive linemen.
Right Guard: Sidy Sow, New England Patriots
Sow was the only rookie interior offensive lineman to earn a higher PFF run-blocking grade than Joe Tippmann in 2023, coming in at 71.3 and ranking 15th among all guards. He earned a PFF grade above 80.0 in four of his 13 starts.
Right Tackle: Dawand Jones, Cleveland Browns
A mountain of a man on the right side of the offensive line, Jones showed off his pass-blocking potential in his rookie season. He allowed just 21 total pressures from 419 pass-blocking snaps and had only two games where he earned a PFF pass-blocking grade below 60.0.
Edge Defender: Arnold Ebiketie, Atlanta Falcons
Ebiketie flashed enough as a pass rusher in Year 2 for onlookers to think he can take another step forward in 2024. His pressure rate jumped from 9.2% as a rookie to 16.0% last year.
Edge Defender: Boye Mafe, Seattle Seahawks
Mafe registered nine sacks in 2023, so perhaps he has already broken out in some people’s eyes, but he can make himself more of a household name in 2024. He improved his pressure rate from 6.0% as a rookie to 13.1% last year and now gets to work with defensive-minded head coach Mike Macdonald, who should be able to help him get even better.
Interior Defender: Karl Brooks, Green Bay Packers
If there is a question about Brooks' play heading into his second NFL season, it’s whether he can be a full-time player or if he is simply more of a pass-rushing specialist. However, with how good he was in that role as a rookie, that may not matter. He had seven games in 2023 with a PFF pass-rushing grade above 70.0.
Interior Defender: Keeanu Benton, Pittsburgh Steelers
Benton was inconsistent in run defense last year but still recorded six PFF-run-defense game grades above 70.0. He should be able to improve on that in his second NFL season. He was a useful pass-rusher, too, notching an 8.5% pressure rate.
Linebacker: Trenton Simpson, Baltimore Ravens
Simpson steps into the role vacated by Patrick Queen next to Roquan Smith in the Ravens' defense, and they will hope his Week 18 performance carries over into his first season as a starter. On 26 snaps against the Pittsburgh Steelers that week, 21 of which came against the run, he registered three tackles resulting in a defensive stop.
Linebacker: DeMarvion Overshown, Dallas Cowboys
If Trenton Simpson’s spot on this team involved a lot of projection, Overshown requires even more. He played just 46 preseason snaps in his rookie season before a torn ACL ended his year. He was expected to compete for starting snaps in 2023, though, and earned a 74.7 PFF grade in the preseason before the injury.
Cornerback: Tyrique Stevenson, Chicago Bears
Stevenson was on the field for 830 snaps as a rookie and endured some struggles in the first half of the season. He looked much improved in the second half of the year, earning a PFF coverage grade above 65.0 in four of his final six starts.
Cornerback: Mekhi Blackmon, Minnesota Vikings
The former USC Trojan had a nice rookie campaign, posting a 71.8 PFF coverage grade after joining the Vikings as a third-round draft pick. He allowed just 28 receptions and had a combined nine pass breakups and interceptions from 329 coverage snaps in 2023.
Cornerback: Christian Benford, Buffalo Bills
After becoming a starter in his second season as a sixth-round draft pick out of Villanova, Benford earned an 83.3 PFF coverage grade, tying for seventh among all cornerbacks last season.
Safety: Jordan Battle, Cincinnati Bengals
Battle finished his rookie campaign with an 81.3 PFF run-defense grade and a 76.4 PFF coverage grade, ranking 13th and tied for 17th, respectively, among safeties in 2023.
Safety: Chamarri Conner, Kansas City Chiefs
Conner was on the field for 20 or more snaps every week from Week 14 through the Super Bowl. He finished his rookie season with a 78.4 PFF coverage grade, ranking 13th at the position, and saw time both at safety and in the slot.
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