Building an "All-Upside" Team: 2026 Breakout Candidates in Each Round

Aug 30, 2026

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Last season, if you drafted Javonte Williams and Drake Maye in the 10th round and Kyle Pitts in the 11th round, you probably won your fantasy league. Why? Because breakout players — the guys who finish well ahead of their preseason ADPs — are the fastest track to big draft day value. Sure, you can hit on the guys that finish where they're supposed to, but that'll just keep you afloat. The "league winners" of any given season are typically the players whose fantasy production far exceeds their draft price.

And the best way to find these breakout candidates? Drafting for ceiling — or upside — instead of for floor. With the trade block and the waiver wire always on hand to shore up your roster's holes, taking a little risk to hunt for greater reward can often be the superior strategy in fantasy.

With that in mind, here are my favorite "upside" targets, or breakout candidates, for the 2026 season ... in every single round of drafts!

Note: All references to draft round and average draft position are based on 4for4's multi-site aggregated ADP, specifically for 12-team drafts.

Round 1 - Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

Jahmyr Gibbs has the highest upside in the first round, but he's going at the 1.01, so all the upside is baked in. Instead, give me "Jahmyr Gibbs Lite" ... Chase Brown. Hyperbole, you say? Hear me out. While Brown struggled mightily to start the 2025 season, amid offensive woes, a Joe Burrow injury, and several ugly Jake Browning starts, he caught fire over the second half of the year, scoring 14+ half-PPR fantasy points in nine of his last 10 games. And specifically after Burrow returned in Week 13, Brown averaged just over 19 touches and just under 20 fantasy points per game. You're not going to believe these numbers, but his 17-game pace through those final six weeks with Burrow: 1,637 total yards, 79 catches, 22 touchdowns. Brown's ceiling hinges on Burrow's health; there's no doubt about that. But if the two-time Comeback Player of the Year can do it again in 2026, Brown has the upside to finish as the RB1 overall.