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How many of you enjoy a buffet? You’re right that’s a dumb question this is America and we love buffets. We love the variety and having the ability to choose. I want you to treat this article as a buffet of breakout players around the NFL. Pick the players you agree with and ignore the players that don’t look appetizing. When you are finished and ready to pay the bill, please share your total with me on twitter @MitchellRenz365.

If you want to leave me a tip for solid service that is always appreciated. So grab a plate and a fork and dig in.

Arizona Cardinals

John Brown -WR

Brown last season was disappointing but that was because of his sickle cell trait which greatly impacted his performance. Brown is healthy and entering his contract year. The talent for John Brown is there let’s not forget he was getting compared to Antonio Brown when he was drafted. John Brown is 5’11” 179 pounds and Antonio Brown is 5’10” 180 pounds. John Brown has 152 catches in his first three seasons and Antonio Brown had 151 catches in his first three seasons. Antonio Brown in year four had 110 catches for 1,499 yards and eight touchdowns. Be ready for a huge breakout year from John Brown.

Atlanta Falcons

Austin Hooper- TE

This offseason has been nothing but praise from the Falcons and quarterback Matt Ryan for their second-year tight end. I’m hoping on Hooper’s hype train this season as well. Rookie tight ends never produce in fact only three rookie tight ends in the last 17 years have had more than 500 receiving yards and five touchdowns in their first year. Hooper takes a big leap forward in 2017.

Baltimore Ravens

Jeremy Maclin-WR

Remember this guy? Maclin battled injuries and an offensive led by Alex Smith in 2016. Maclin in 2014 and 2015 had over 1,000 receiving yards. Now he joins a Ravens team that led the NFL in pass attempts last season and 336 targets are freed up from last season for the taking. A big season for Maclin is coming.

Buffalo Bills

Sammy Watkins- WR

A contract year for the 24-year-old wide receiver. Watkins is unbelievably talented and many forget he was drafted ahead of Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr. in the 2014 NFL Draft. Watkins received a second surgery on his lisfranc injury and the results after a second surgery have been promising. A great example is Julio Jones in his first three seasons he missed 14 games, after the second lisfranc surgery he has only missed three games in three seasons. Watkins is fully healthy and ready to break out.

Carolina Panthers

Christian McCaffrey-RB

Selected eighth overall in this seasons NFL draft. McCaffrey is extremely dynamic. How dynamic well for starters he broke Barry Sanders All Purpose yard record in college football. I’d say that’s pretty good. The Panthers will look to take some weight off Cam Newton’s shoulders in 2017 and McCaffrey will be a big part of that.

Chicago Bears

Kevin White-WR

White has yet to live up to the hype of his seventh overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. In the four games, he played before his season ended due to injury he was averaging 8.75 targets a game. That’s a pace for 140 targets for the entire season. Only 12 wide receivers in the NFL had 140 targets or more in 2016. White is entering his third year in the NFL which is when wide receivers make a leap forward.

Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Mixon- RB

Arguably the best running back in the 2017 NFL draft. Mixon is a do it all running back who’s draft stock dropped due to off the field issues. Mixon will quickly become a reliable every down running back since Jeremy Hill has been trending downward since his rookie season and Giovani Bernard is coming off a season where he averaged under 4.0 YPC (yards per carry) and a torn ACL.

Cleveland Browns

Isaiah Crowell – RB

The Browns upgraded their offensive line big time in the offseason. It is easily a top five offensive line in the NFL now. Crowell last season averaged 4.8 YPC and carried the ball 198 times on a terrible Browns team that won one game. Expect a larger workload on a better team and Crowell is on his way to a breakout season.

Dallas Cowboys

Rico Gathers – TE

Who? Gathers is the backup tight end for the Cowboys behind Jason Witten but Gathers is an athletic freak. He is 6’8″ 280 pounds, in comparison to Rob Gronkowski who is 6’6″ 265 pounds. Gathers was a standout basketball player at Baylor and if history on tight ends tells us anything, former basketball players that are now NFL tight ends are very productive. Here are a few names; Tony Gonzales, Antonio Gates, and Jimmy Graham.

Denver Broncos

Paxton Lynch – QB

Lynch will be named the starter over Trevor Siemien. Lynch offers so much more to an offense than the vanilla play of Siemien. Lynch has two talented wide receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders who he will lean on in 2017.

Detroit Lions

Ameer Abdullah – RB

The Lions didn’t draft any running backs in a very deep 2017 NFL draft. Why? They are confident in Abdullah. In Abdullah’s six year career combining NFL and college football, he has played in every single game besides last season. So five out of six seasons he played in every game. Yet, he still gets labeled as injury prone. Be ready for Abdullah to have a huge season in 2017.

Green Bay Packers

Ty Montgomery – RB

A running back in an offense led by Aaron Rodgers is a very valuable position. In games where Montgomery had 11 touches or more the Packers had seven wins and one loss. The Packers know for a fact that last season when he touches the ball they win games. He is the best pass catching running back on the roster and averaged 5.9 YPC in 2016. If he can improve his pass blocking this offseason he could potentially be an every down running back.

Houston Texans

Lamar Miller – RB

Last season Miller averaged 21 touches a game and I expect a similar workload for him in 2017. The Texans still want to lean on their run game and defense which both should be better in 2017. The defense gets back JJ Watt and the offense loses Brock Osweiler. The Texans were one of three teams to have more interceptions than touchdown passes, the other two were the Jets and the Rams

Indianapolis Colts

Jack Doyle – TE

Andrew Luck loves his tight ends. In his last two full seasons 2014 and 2016, the top two tight ends have caught 34 combined touchdowns. Jack Doyle has a catch rate of 78 percent for his career and now that he is the clear cut first string tight end on the offense since Dwayne Allen was traded to the Patriots, expect him to have a monster season.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Leonard Fournette – RB

An NFL team doesn’t use the fourth overall pick in the draft on a running back not to make him their workhorse. The Jaguars on paper look impressive and should have a defense that allows Fournette to drain the life out of his opponents late in games. A huge workload is coming for Fournette.

Kansas City Chiefs

Kareem Hunt – RB

Kareem Hunt may not be the starter now but will be by the end of the season. We saw Ware slow down as the season went on in 2016. The last eight games of the season he averaged 3.7 YPC compared to 5.0 YPC the first half of the season. Hunt is the perfect running back for a team led by Andy Reid.

Los Angeles Chargers

Melvin Gordon – RB

Melvin Gordon will lead all running backs in the NFL in rushing yards in 2017. Now that’s bold. Gordon is a talented running back on a talented offense who now has Anthony Lynn as their head coach. Lynn when he coached in Buffalo the last two seasons was very run heavy. How run heavy? The Bills in 2015 and 2016 ranked first in rushing touchdowns, first in rushing yards and second in rush attempts.

Los Angeles Rams

Robert Woods – WR

The Rams signed Woods this offseason and is penciled in as the number one receiver for them entering the season. This Rams team will be losing a lot which means they will have to pass. Goff is the type of quarterback that will benefit from a precise route runner and which is exactly what Woods brings to the table. Don’t sleep on Woods in 2017.

Miami Dolphins

DeVante Parker – WR

If you’re a fan of metrics then look no further than Parker. His best comparable in the NFL according to PlayerProfiler.com is AJ Green. Parker has the tools he just hasn’t sharpened them yet. Reports out of camp are that Parker is motivated and going to have a huge season.

Minnesota Vikings

Adam Thielen – WR

Over the last eight games of last season, Thielen’s numbers were 40 catches – 535 yards and five touchdowns. He started to build a report with Bradford at the end of the season which is to be expected since Bradford was traded to the Vikings a week before the season. Thielen will be the top wide receiver for the Vikings in 2017.

New England Patriots

Mike Gillislee – RB

Best landing spot possible for Gillislee. Last season Gillislee had the best first down run percentage in the NFL and the highest YPC among all running backs with over 100 carries. He was talented enough to take LeSean McCoy off the field in Buffalo at the goal line. Now he is on the Patriots who will be winning plenty of games, picking up plenty of first downs and scoring a ton of touchdowns. Gillislee will be an absolute stud in 2017.

New Orleans Saints

Ted Ginn – WR

Ted Ginn could not be in a better situation now with the Saints. A deep threat wide receiver with one of the best quarterbacks of all time at throwing the deep ball. A heavy passing team that has 117 targets up for grabs now that Brandin Cooks is a Patriot.

New York Giants

Paul Perkins – RB

In the first eight games of the season, Perkins had 21 carries, in the last eight games of the season Perkins had 91 carries. The Giants will lean on Perkins who is also a good pass catching running back. Perkins is the all time reception leader as a running back from UCLA.

New York Jets

Bilal Powell – RB

Powell was tied for the Jets lead in receptions with 58. I don’t expect the Jets to be winning very often this season which means Powell will be on the field a lot. Forte isn’t getting younger and had his worst statistical season in 2016 which may lead the Jets leaning on Powell to run more. Powell averaged 5.5 YPC in 2016 on 131 carries.

Oakland Raiders

Amari Cooper – WR

Cooper is entering his third season at age 23. Isn’t it ironic that Cooper is on this list? He has 155 catches and 2,223 yards with 11 touchdowns in his first two seasons. Yet he can still be considered a breakout because that’s how talented he truly is. If Cooper can improve in the red zone he may a top five wide receiver this season.

Philadelphia Eagles

Carson Wentz – QB

Sophmore quarterback Carson Wentz got plenty of new receivers this offseason. Just about anything is an upgrade from his receiving core in 2016. Enter Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith who will open up the passing game for Wentz who threw the ball 607 times in his rookie campaign.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Martavis Bryant – WR

An absolute athletic freak. He has played 21 NFL games in his career. If you take the averages from those 21 games and project them for an entire season his numbers would look like: 58 receptions 1,001 yards and 11 touchdowns.

San Francisco 49ers

Pierre Garcon – WR

The last time Garcon was playing with Kyle Shanahan he led the NFL in targets (184) and receptions (113). Garcon will be the lead target on a team that will be losing most weeks and quarterback Brian Hoyer has proved that he can be a serviceable quarterback. He helped DeAndre Hopkins have his best statistical season in 2015. Also last year in Hoyer’s four starts he threw for over 300 yards in all four of them.

Seattle Seahawks

Eddie Lacy – RB

Lacy was actually having a good season before he suffered an injury that ended his season. He was averaging 5.1 YPC which is the best of his career. He was on pace for 227 carries and 1,152 yards in 2016. Lacy is below 255 pounds and looks motivated to prove all his doubters he is far from done.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jameis Winston – QB

Jameis has been productive in his first two seasons but this season will be the breakout year for Winston. The Buccaneers added field stretcher DeSean Jackson in free agency and drafted the best tight end in the draft OJ Howard and a very talented wide receiver Chris Godwin. Winston was top three in air yards in 2016 and with the new offensive options, he will be throwing the ball plenty in 2017.

Tennessee Titans

Derrick Henry – RB

Henry started playing more as the season went on last season. Four of Henry’s five touchdowns came in the final five games. DeMarco slowed down the last half of the season going from averaging 4.7 YPC in the first eight games compared to 4.0 YPC in the last eight games. Watch out for Henry to be more involved in 2017.

Washington Redskins

Terrelle Pryor – WR

If Pryor can manage over 1,000 receiving yards on a Browns team who had one win and six different players play quarterback in 2016, I am confident that Pryor is the real deal. Pryor even had to play quarterback in 2016, think about that. With Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson gone that leaves 226 targets up for grabs for Pryor to soak up.

So what did you think of my breakouts buffet? Do you agree or disagree with my choices? I want to know what you think of my breakouts so please share your opinions with me on twitter @MitchellRenz365. To get all the best NFL News and Fantasy Football info all season long stay tuned into MitchellRenz365 Fantasy Football.