2026 Fantasy Football: Early breakout candidates for each AFC East team
NFL Free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft will completely shake up the fantasy football landscape in the coming months.
Before the roster movement begins, Justin Boone is identifying one fantasy-relevant player from every team who's most likely to break out during the 2026 season.
Early Breakout CandidatesEarly AFC East Breakout CandidatesBuffalo Bills - Dalton Kincaid, TEKincaid was well on his way to a breakout campaign in September before injuries derailed his season yet again.
The 26-year-old was averaging the third-most fantasy points among tight ends through the first five weeks, despite still only playing around 50% of the Bills' offensive snaps. Had he maintained his 11.3 fantasy points per game from that stretch over the course of the entire season, he would have finished as the TE5.
However, once Kincaid began dealing with injuries, he missed five games the rest of the way and was held to 38% of the snaps or less in every outing from that point on.
It's highly likely the Bills invest in their receiver position this offseason, but Kincaid remains a key part of Buffalo's passing attack. All he needs to do is stay healthy for a full season in order to be in the mix as a top-five fantasy tight end.
Fantasy breakout potential:
Miami Dolphins -Malik Washington, WRIt's an offseason of change for the Dolphins, which includes a new coaching staff and general manager taking over. The team is also likely to move on from several veterans, with decisions looming on key offensive players like Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill.
That makes it difficult to select a potential breakout candidate from a roster that should have a lot of new faces after free agency and the draft.
Washington failed to make a consistent impact after Hill went out with a season-ending injury, but the passing attack struggled as a whole en route to a quarterback change.
While we have seen flashes of Washington's playmaking ability during his first two years in the league, he'll need to make a big leap forward this offseason if he's going to emerge as a fantasy option.
Consider the 25-year-old mostly a placeholder in this spot until we have a better idea of what the Dolphins' scheme and depth chart will look like this season.
Fantasy breakout potential:
New England Patriots - TreVeyon Henderson, RBIt was frustrating for fantasy managers who had to watch Henderson take a backseat on multiple occasions when Rhamondre Stevenson was healthy.
However, we saw more than enough to have faith in Henderson becoming a weekly fantasy difference-maker as early as next season.
The rookie was a top-10 fantasy back over the final eight weeks this year and appears to be on a Jahmyr Gibbs-style career trajectory. Remember, in Gibbs' rookie season with the Lions, he only played 56% of the snaps, yet finished as the RB11 in fantasy points per game. His final stat line that year consisted of 945 rushing yards, 316 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns.
Despite Stevenson's role, Henderson ended the season with 911 rushing yards, 221 receiving yards and 10 total TDs - not far behind Gibbs' rookie-year numbers.
With the Patriots appearing to be at the start of another dominant run with Drake Maye at the helm, Henderson is one of the most obvious 2026 breakout targets with a true high-end RB1 ceiling.
Fantasy breakout potential:
New York Jets - Braelon Allen, RBThe Jets are another team in limbo as they try to solve the quarterback problem that's plagued their offense for over a decade.
In addition to their QB search, they'll have a decision to make on star running back Breece Hall, whom they chose not to trade at this year's deadline. Hall seems ready for a fresh start and is heading for free agency, unless New York elects to place the franchise tag on him.
If Hall leaves, that would create an opportunity in the Jets' backfield and Allen is the next man up if they don't make a major investment at the position.
An MCL injury ended Allen's sophomore season after the first month, but he'll only be 22 years old entering his third NFL campaign.
As a rookie, Allen only played more than 35% of the snaps in three games and finished as a top-24 fantasy RB in two of those contests, posting 56 yards and two TDs in Week 2 and 81 scrimmage yards in Week 14. It's understandable if you want to stay away from the Jets' rushing attack, but Allen represents a cheap path to a potential starting back. If he does land that role by the time we reach the summer, Allen will be a discounted fantasy RB3 with RB2 upside.
Fantasy breakout potential:
Early Breakout Candidates