Which Projected NFL Breakout Stars Are Worth Investing In?

We're officially less than three weeks away from the start of real NFL football. That time can't come any sooner, quite literally, given the sheer number of consequential injuries to critical players in recent weeks, but thankfully the onslaught of "lower-body injuries" and vague "tightness" concerns hasn't affected a handful of players gaining some ridiculous training-camp buzz.

Let's dive into a few of the names and dissect their value from a hobby perspective.

Justin Herbert Poised For 7th Year Breakout?

Anyone even moderately invested in the NFL side of the hobby probably had to physically hold their eyes in their head after eyerolling too hard at the headline, but trust me, this time when I say there's probably some juice to the Herbert squeeze.

The newly engaged Pro Bowl quarterback finally has a bit of buzz outside of his play on the field, but the entire premise of his new hobby life is built upon his rapport with new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. The former Miami Dolphins head coach is arguably raising the tides of all Chargers ships, but the nautical puns are dependent on Herbert elevating beyond just a regular-season stat merchant. Despite twice earning top-10 MVP consideration and broadly being included in the league's best quarterbacks on an annual basis, the 28-year-old has made it to the playoffs just three times and lost in the wildcard round each time.

Justin Herbert and his decreasing card market — Justin Herbert's Card Index market according to Cardladder | Cardladder

The Chargers currently have the eighth-best Super Bowl odds according to ESPN and, more importantly, sit in the AFC, comfortably away from the current runaway favorite and city sibling Los Angeles Rams. There was plenty of appetite for Herbert's card market in the not-so-distant past. An extended playoff run could resuscitate his market.

Carnell Tate THE Rookie Frontrunner?

Topps Flagship football is making its triumphant return after a decade-plus-long absence, but the 2026 rookie class outside No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza is unfortunately underwhelming from a collector's perspective. Rookie wide receiver and No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Carnell Tate, could change that equation, however.

That's notable on two fronts. First and foremost, Tate's emergence and development as a key weapon in the Tennessee passing attack could unlock Cam Ward, last year's No. 1 overall pick, which would revive lukewarm interest from card collectors in the former Miami quarterback after an underwhelming rookie campaign.

The other is far more speculative, but worth a conversation nevertheless. The NFL card market has historically been loath to value any player significantly beyond quarterbacks. But with back-to-back rookie classes effectively devoid of suitable chases outside the most prominent of prominent picks (Ward, Jaxson Dart, Mendoza), there's an argument to be made that any scintillating and story-stealing rookie might get a bit more traction than normal. Tate has reportedly gelled with Ward in Tennessee training camp so far, and the 6-foot-2, nearly 200-pound wideout from Ohio State looks every bit the part of an alpha target on paper.

The Next Great TE Resides in the Frozen Tundra

The NFL has been blessed with a number of prominent tight ends in recent years, including Mr. Taylor Swift - I mean - Travis Kelce, Trey McBride, and burgeoning superstars like Colston Loveland and Tyler Warren. But none of them were set to have the season that Tucker Kraft did in 2025.

Or should I say, would have had. The bruising third-year player led all TEs with 15.3 yards after catch per reception through nine weeks, unfortunately tearing his ACL against the Panthers. He would end up leading the position group in total YAC up until Week 14 despite missing five games due to the aforementioned injury. His numbers extrapolated across a whole campaign (68 catches, 1,039 receiving yards, 13 touchdowns) would have tied Kraft for the third-most touchdowns by a TE in NFL history, and the most by the position since 2018.

It's a lot of coulda, woulda, shoulda, of course, but Kraft seems hell-bent on returning to that same level of dominance, and his surgically repaired knee is drawing eyebrow-raising levels of hyperbole. Kraft is expected to be available for the Packers in Week 1 and should be a fixture of a pass-heavy offense that once again has title aspirations.

More importantly for our context, Kraft's rookie cards are artificially more valuable because he was a late third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and the second TE his team drafted that year. The South Dakota State product was an afterthought by the time 2023 NFL Prizm came out, and the star tight end never appeared in any of the premium products such as Panini Immaculate, National Treasures, or Flawless. Kraft does have a rookie Genesis in 2023 Mosaic, albeit not in a Packers jersey, and that card has transacted just once since October, according to Cardladder.

At least the projected star was featured to some degree in Panini Donruss Optic, making the Gold Vinyl auto graded as a PSA 7, which sold for $6,125 back in April, arguably his most sought-after rookie card.

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