2025 Fantasy Football: Three Breakout Second-Year Candidates

The second-year leap is one of the most coveted dynamics in fantasy football — and few teams are better positioned to deliver it than the 2025 Chicago Bears and New England Patriots. With highly drafted quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Drake Maye entering Year 2, both franchises have retooled their offenses to support their young signal-callers with revamped schemes and upgraded weapons. Fantasy managers looking for breakout value at quarterback and wide receiver would be wise to keep close tabs on these ascending talents as the new season approaches.

QB Drake Maye, New England Patriots

After assuming control of the Patriots’ offense in Week 6, Drake Maye put together an underrated rookie campaign, averaging a respectable 16.8 fantasy points per game — and that includes a truncated Week 8 outing cut short by a concussion after just 20 snaps. Remove that anomaly, and his 17.4 FPPG output would’ve made him a top-15 fantasy quarterback over that stretch. All the more impressive? He pulled it off behind one of the league’s shakiest offensive lines and a receiving corps that rarely threatened downfield.

Maye wrapped his debut season with 2,276 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 421 yards on the ground, and a pair of rushing scores.

Fast forward to Year 2: the Patriots retooled their offensive brain trust by bringing in Josh McDaniels, while adding a fresh stable of skill players like Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, dynamic rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson, and promising deep-ball threat Kyle Williams. With a revamped arsenal, a full offseason of reps, and battle-tested experience, Maye is in prime position to level up.

Equipped with a rocket arm, legit mobility, and a steely edge that fits New England’s blue-collar ethos, Maye’s toolkit is tailor-made for a breakout. His cool demeanor in chaos and unrelenting drive hint at a sophomore surge that fantasy managers should be ready to capitalize on. He’s not a QB1 but I’d rank him within the top 15 players at the position.

Hard to overstate the difference between Year 1 and Year 2

Drake Maye to the 🌕 pic.twitter.com/M1zYESJ2Fr
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) May 1, 2025

QB Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

The 2024 season served as a transitional chapter for the Chicago Bears, defined by an influx of new personnel, a retooled offensive scheme, and inevitable growing pains that hampered early cohesion. While fantasy managers entered the year with sky-high hopes, expecting immediate synergy from a team undergoing foundational change was always a stretch.

Caleb Williams, the prized top pick in the draft, found himself somewhat overshadowed by the explosive rookie campaigns of Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix. Still, with another offseason under his belt and a full training camp to deepen chemistry with star wideouts DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, Williams is poised to lead a much-improved passing attack in 2025. The Bears also added firepower by selecting tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden III with early draft capital, signaling their full commitment to building around their franchise quarterback.

Williams enters the upcoming season with tantalizing upside and is already among my top 10 quarterbacks entering the 2025 fantasy football season. The addition of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson—widely credited for reviving Jared Goff’s career in Detroit—sets the stage for Williams to take a major leap in Year 2. Despite a turbulent rookie season that included being sacked a staggering 68 times (third-most in NFL history), Williams still posted 3,541 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, six interceptions, and added nearly 500 rushing yards—impressive numbers given the context.

No other QB can make this throw. pic.twitter.com/3gIUZu4LrY
— Caleb Williams Fan Club (@CalebFC18) May 6, 2025

Now supported by a fortified offensive line and one of the league’s deeper arsenals of pass-catchers, Williams is positioned for a breakout. His dual-threat skill set aligns perfectly with modern fantasy football trends, and if he adjusts quickly to Johnson’s system, he could emerge as one of the most impactful late-round steals in 2025 drafts.

WR Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears

If I’m banking on a breakout season from Williams, it’s no wonder I’m so high on Odunze heading into his second season in the NFL. Odunze entered the league with plenty of buzz as the No. 9 overall pick in 2024, but fantasy expectations were tempered. Sharing a crowded offense with DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Cole Kmet, and D’Andre Swift — and paired with a rookie quarterback — Odunze’s ceiling was naturally capped.

The rookie still tallied 54 receptions on 101 targets for 734 yards and three touchdowns, finishing as the WR49 in PPR formats. With Allen now off the roster, Odunze is locked in as the clear WR2 behind Moore — and with 120 vacated targets up for grabs, his role is set to expand significantly.

A downfield threat by nature, Odunze is primed for a Year 2 breakout and should finish among the top 25 wide receivers in PPR formats.

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