Breakout.

That word is used too loosely in today’s world of sports. Players have breakout games. Breakout seasons. I even heard someone refer to a player having a “breakout quarter”. What does it mean to breakout?

To me, a breakout can’t be determined in the moment. You cannot know for sure if a player has truly broken out till a much later date. Their breakout game or breakout season must be accompanied with consistency in the following games or seasons. One big game or season does not a breakout make.

In the world of fantasy sports, we live for the breakouts. We draft “late round fliers” that we hope have that breakout season or we take chances on guys that have underperformed for the first few years of their career thinking to ourselves, “This is his year”. The breakout is an elusive creature to capture, but if you can catch it, fantasy immortality awaits…

Fantasy Football will be here before we know it, and for those in dynasty leagues, it never left. I’m kicking off GoingFor2’s fantasy football coverage with my 2016 breakout candidates. This will actually be my second installment, my first was published on Matthew Berry’s promoted FantasyLifeApp blog for which I’m a contributor. I will be alternating these breakout articles between the two sites, so be sure to follow me over there so you don’t miss anything.

Please don’t confuse a candidate as someone I’m necessarily recommending you draft. In fact, I expect some of these guys will fail and I will say so in my narrative. I’m simply highlighting a few guys that will be drafted with the expectation of having a breakout season, and at the end of each profile, I will assign that player with a percentage. That percentage will represent my thoughts on him having that coveted breakout.   

WR Kevin White | Chicago Bears | 2nd Year

2015 Stats: N/A (injured all season)

Kevin White will be a hard player to predict being that he missed his entire rookie season with a stress fracture in his shin. All we will have to go on is “coach talk” and his college career. In regards to the coach talk, White is off to a good start. A source at  ESPN.com  quoted Bears WR coach Curtis Johnson comparing White to Andre Johnson.

“They’re both big and physical and fast,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t all go together sometimes. But when you see a big guy who is physical, fast and athletic, you just wonder how good this guy can really be?”

Mark one point in White’s favor. If anyone was to compare White to Andre Johnson and have it hold water, why not a guy who has now coached both? Curtis coached Andre at the University of Miami.

White’s collegiate career was a good one too and the reason he went No. 7 overall to the Bears in last year’s draft. He boasted 109 receptions 1447 yards and 10 TDs as a Mountaineer in 2014. If some of that big play ability can translate to the NFL level, White could be a great compliment to Alshon Jeffery.

The biggest questions marks for White are some obvious ones. First would be his health. It’s never a good sign when you miss your entire rookie season due to an injury, but if this ends up as only a blip on the radar for him and he can stay healthy this year, he should see a lot of single coverage to his side of the field with defenses keying in on Jeffery.

The second question mark will be the Bears offense under Jay Cutler and with Matt Forte in a Jets uniform. Cutler has shown in his career that he is capable of feeding two fantasy stud WRs when he had Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall catching his passes. As long as the Bears can keep the oft-sacked, oft-injured quarterback on the field and standing upright, White should see a lot of passes come his way.

In the end, I think White has a serviceable fantasy season, and will have the occasional big game, but I think he will struggle with consistency from game to game. He is a great dynasty add because I expect him to drop in drafts due to injury concerns and the excitement over the rookie wide receivers.

In a redraft league, I’m looking at White as a late round flier and nothing more. Unless we see some flashes in the preseason, the wide receiver position is so deep, I don’t see wasting a mid-round pick on a guy that we haven’t seen on the field yet.

2016 Projection

75 receptions 900 yards 8 TDs

Potential Breakout Percentage

40%