The anticipation for the start of the NFL’s regular season has been brewing throughout the entire offseason and is about to reach the boiling point. With a bevy of trades, signings and retirements in the books, 30 NFL teams have now concocted their formulas for success.
Some players look to be that special ingredient in their respective team’s quest for the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 50. We’ve selected five amazing athletes from five different key positions that are looking to emerge as the next elite game-breakers.
Read on as we bring you the five players who should breakout this 2015 season. After this, get up to date with some of the recent developments during the offseason. Head on over to our coverage of the Five Stories From the NFL Offseason You Probably Haven’t Heard.
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Five Players Poised to Have Breakout Years in the NFL
QB Derek Carr – Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders have been the laughing stock of the league for several years now. The Silver and Black ended the 2014 season with a 3-13 record and failed to tally more than four wins for the third straight season. But there is reason to be optimistic that Oakland can turn things around this 2015 thanks to its franchise quarterback in the making in Derek Carr.
[sc:NFL240banner ]Carr’s superb production last season (as rookie no less) was overshadowed by the general ineptitude of the Raiders. But upon closer look, the Fresno native’s numbers were actually impressive.
3,270 yards with 21 touchdowns and just 12 picks is not bad at all for a rookie on a losing team. Carr also set a new Oakland Raiders record for rookies by throwing the most TDs (4) in a single regular season game in just his fifth start.
The Oakland front office also gave the second-year quarterback some nice weapons by getting Michael Crabtree from the 49ers and by selecting All-American wide receiver Amari Cooper with the fourth overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft. It will be interesting to see what Carr can do this season with a revamped offense working to his advantage.
RB Carlos Hyde – San Francisco 49ers
While one Bay Area team looks to climb out of the pit of mediocrity, another team seems headed for an inevitable downward spiral. The San Francisco 49ers will enter the new season with a lot of key players missing from their 2014 core. One notable player that left the organization is the 49ers’ all-time rushing yards leader Frank Gore, who signed with the Indianapolis Colts as a free agent. It’s now up to Carlos Hyde to fill the huge void that Gore left at running back.
Hyde fits very well with the power run offense that the 49ers employ. Although the Ohio State standout only managed to rush for 333 yards last season, he still hauled in four touchdowns and averaged four yards per carry.
Hyde’s lack of productivity can be mainly attributed to his second fiddle status to the 49ers’ trusted workhorse in Gore. Also, last season saw Colin Kaepernick (at least attempt to) develop his passing game more, which led to fewer rushing plays.
With former 49ers offensive line coordinator and now head coach Jim Tomsula at the helm, the team will likely go back to their grinding power run plays and schemes. Hyde is just the back that the 49ers need to silence the critics and put them back into Super Bowl contention.
WR Martavis Bryant – Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh’s quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a fantastic 2014 to say the least, and the Steelers’ receiving corps saw a big boost to its stats. Perhaps the receiver that benefited the most from Big Ben’s aerial assault last season was Martavis Bryant.
Bryant, Pittsburgh’s fourth-round pick in last year’s draft, has so much upside given his numbers from last season. The wideout from Clemson only played 10 games for the Steelers last year but still caught 26 passes for 549 yards (that’s a staggering 21.1 yards per catch). And haven’t we mentioned yet that Bryant hauled in eight touchdowns?
Just imagine what he can do with in a full season this year running routes together with the prolific Antonio Brown on the other side of the field for the Steelers offense.
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TE Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs
We could easily consider 2014 as Travis Kelce’s breakout year, but 2015 seems to be the right moment for “Zeus” to shatter any and all expectations. The former Cincinnati Bearcat led the Chiefs in receiving last season with 862 yards off 67 catches to go along with five touchdowns, and this was even considering that he was behind Anthony Fasano in the depth chart.
Now that Fasano is gone, and with the team bringing in wide receiver Jeremy Maclin to add to Kansas City’s vertical attack, Kelce looks primed to put up even bigger numbers. Maclin will draw the most attention from opposing defenses, which will leave Kelce as quarterback Alex Smith’s next best option in the passing game.
It is imperative for Kansas City to muster enough offense if it wants to keep up with Peyton Manning and the division-dominating Denver Broncos in the AFC West standings. Having the trio of Kelce, Maclin and Jamaal Charles at Smith’s disposal for a much more versatile Chiefs offense will make the division race that much more intriguing.
OLB Jadeveon Clowney – Houston Texans
During the rookie year of a number one overall pick in the NFL draft, the bar is initially set really high for that player to produce immediate and positive results. In Jadeveon Clowney’s case, he barely even got to showcase his true potential at all.
Clowney, the Houston Texans’ top pick from the 2015 draft, suffered a devastating torn meniscus in his knee that required microfracture surgery. The injury would cut the South Carolina native’s rookie campaign short to just four games with seven tackles.
Now that the disruptive linebacker is healthy, he will look to impose his will on defense this season just as he should have done so in his first year with the Texans. Opposing teams will always put their focus first on containing two-time defensive player of the year J.J. Watt and recently acquired five-time Pro Bowl selection Vince Wilfork. Clowney will then have a lot of chances to unleash his barrage of rushes that he should’ve done when he was a rookie.
