Seize the moment: 2019 NFL breakouts

Looking ahead to the NFL season, which is 51 days away, and every team will have a breakout player. Some teams will even have two. For these teams to be successful, they will rely on these guys to progress and have a bigger impact on the field than they did before. Here is a list of guys I think are on the verge of becoming stars or major impact players on their respective teams.

James Washington Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington’s 2018 stats will not jump off the page at you with only 16 catches, 217 yards, and one touchdown. However, he is very talented and has a big opportunity now that Antonio Brown went west to the Raiders. Washington should be the favorite for the starting spot opposite of Juju Smith-Schuster but will have to beat out Donte Moncrief and Diontae Johnson. The former second-round pick coming out of Oklahoma State was one of the best receivers in the country as he racked up 145 catches, 2,929 yards and 23 touchdowns in his final two seasons in Stillwater. Not to mention many scouts had first-round grades on him. According to Matt Harmon who scouted him prior to the draft “What makes Washington stand out among this crop of prospects is his ability to offer two skills that are rare and valuable: winning deep and in contested spaces.” This off-season Washington has lost 15 pounds to improve his speed and has taken the steps to have a breakout season in 2019. I expect him to put the league on notice of how good he can be, especially since Big Ben is a gunslinger and will throw him the ball at will if he proves himself in camp. As for his 2019 stats, I predict he will catch 60 passes for 750 yards and 7 Touchdowns.

Harold Landry Tennessee Titans

Harold Landry has star potential written all over him and the 2019 season could be his year. As a rookie, he showed flashes of being an elite pass rusher with his first-step quickness and body control. Landry already can turn the corner and chase the quarterback like a lion chasing a gazelle, but what stands out to me so much is his fit with the Titans and the upcoming opportunity he has. Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan have retired, allowing Landry to be the full-time starter, not to mention they signed former All-Pro pass rusher Cameron Wake in the off-season, meaning a lot of the attention will be on him, leaving Landry to one on one opportunities with offensive linemen. In 15 games last year with three starts he had 44 tackles, five TFL, and 4.5 sacks, which was tied for third on the team. Titans coaches have even noticed a change in work ethic in Landry this off-season “He’s in the building all of the time. Always in the weight room. We have to send him home sometimes”. Expect Landry to break out this season and be on the verge of being a Pro Bowler in the next two years if he can add more to his repertoire of pass-rushing moves. But this season he will have around 50 tackles, 8 TFL, and 8 sacks.

Dante Pettis San Francisco 49ers

Although Pettis lost most of his rookie season to injury, he finished the end of the season very well and ended the year with 27 catches, 467 yards and five touchdowns. Pettis is an electrifying wide receiver with big-play ability every time he touches the ball. But what impresses me so much is his ability to create separation with his footwork at the top end of his routes. Going into this season, Pettis gets his quarterback back in Jimmy Garoppolo and they will look to build a rapport with each other. The 49ers are one of the most talented teams in the NFL but need one of their receivers to break out this season. Luckily, last year their young star tight-end George Kittle broke out with a big season. If Pettis can follow Kittle’s lead and become the star, I know he can be the 49ers will be a tough match-up for any team and could be a potential sleeper Super Bowl pick. I think he more than doubles his stats from last year with 56 catches, 820 yards with 7 touchdowns.

Sam Hubbard Cincinnati Bengals

Another guy on the verge of breaking out last year was Sam Hubbard. He was only on the field 45 percent of the Bengals defensive snaps as a rookie, but he did make the most of them. Hubbard had 39 tackles, six sacks. Five of those sacks came in the final nine games. Last season he was used as a situational pass rusher, but I expect he will develop his game, which will lead to consistent playing time. This summer, Hubbard has hit the weight room hard and has gained 7 to 10 pounds of lean muscle and is focusing on staying healthy for this upcoming season. With Carl Lawson coming off an ACL injury, Michael Johnson unsigned and Jordan Willis yet to emerge as a consistent player for the Bengals, look forward to Hubbard flourishing this season with 8 to 10 sacks along with 43 tackles and 9 TFL. Going forward the Bengals front seven will cause havoc all season long with Hubbard as a major catalyst.

Josh Rosen Miami Dolphins

In the 2018 season, I cannot name a player that was treated unfairly or came into the NFL with a worse situation than former 1st round pick Josh Rosen. He came into the Cardinals organization with arguably the worst offensive line in the NFL, which led to him being sacked 5th most in the entire league. The Cardinals only had one lineman play more than 600 snaps — rookie center Mason Cole — and they had 11 different offensive linemen that played at least 100 snaps. Rosen also had limited weapons in the Arizona offense. Although Larry Fitzgerald is a Hall of Famer, he’s on the wrong side of 30. David Johnson was coming off a major injury. If that isn’t bad enough, the Cardinals defense wasn’t good either, nor was the coaching staff. The whole situation was very toxic for a rookie QB to enter into. Going forward, Rosen was traded to the Miami Dolphins. This will fare better for the young QB as he has a better collection of weapons on offense with Kenyan Drake, Kenny Stills, Albert Wilson and company. The biggest move they made, in my opinion, this off-season was bringing over Brian Flores from the New England Patriots. Flores comes from a winning culture and will expect the same from the rest of his team. Does Rosen talk too much and make outlandish comments? Yes. But he does have talent and had the best or 2nd best arm in his draft class. The best example I can give is Jared Goff. When under Jeff Fisher and Rob Boras as his OC, he had a 63.6 passer rating and looked like he was well on his way to being a bust until the rams hired a young vibrant head coach in Sean McVay. Now Goff is one of the best young QB’s in the league. To be clear, Rosen only had 393 pass attempts last season, so the jury is still out on how good he can be. However, Rosen will have to beat out Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job and, at some point, he will do so. Expect Rosen to bring some life back to the Miami Dolphins franchise and get his career back on track.