Travis Hunter, Ricky Pearsall and 3 Other Breakout Wide Receivers for 2025

In the modern era, wide receivers dominate the top of the draft board in every fantasy format. A vast majority of fantasy managers secure a WR1 in the first two rounds.

But to fill out the receiver depth chart, fantasy managers should target breakout candidates in the middle to late rounds. Those high-upside breakout candidates will be invaluable options when injuries occur and during bye weeks.

Here are five potential breakout candidates at wide receiver for the 2025 NFL season.

Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars

Fantasy managers have to continue to monitor Hunter's snaps throughout the preseason. The two-way star isn't just playing receiver, and his defensive snaps could cut into his offensive upside.

If he ultimately mostly plays receiver, though, Hunter has the potential to be a breakout fantasy star.

"Hunter should see his share of favorable coverage playing opposite Brian Thomas Jr., who is coming off a 1,282-yard, 10-touchdown rookie year," wrote NFL.com's Michael Florio. "Talent tends to win out in this league and Hunter has the upside to easily outperform his WR3 draft cost."

Through training camp and the early part of the preseason, Hunter has almost evenly split his snaps between offense and defense. Hunter is so talented that he has to be included on our list, but his potential as a breakout star will depend on his final offensive snap count.

Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers

NFL rookies overcome injuries early in their professional careers all the time. But Pearsall dealt with a gunshot wound last August.

The 24-year-old bounced back to make his NFL debut in Week 7. That was just as Brandon Aiyuk went down with his ACL injury.

Pearsall made two starts at the end of the 2024 season. In those two games, he posted 14 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns.

With Aiyuk definitely out until at least Week 6 this season, Pearsall is going to have the chance to shine, particularly immediately, for the 49ers offense.

Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts

Downs has put together two nice seasons to begin his NFL career. The hope in 2025 is he can take the next step perhaps with more consistent quarterback play in Indianapolis.

Last season, Downs posted 72 catches with 803 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He eclipsed his totals from his rookie season despite playing in three fewer games.

The Colts haven't settled on a quarterback yet this preseason. If anything, there are more questions at the position with Anthony Richardson suffering a dislocated pinkie finger in Week 1 of the preseason.

But Downs is still a receiver to target in fantasy drafts because of his breakout potential. The likelihood for a breakout just increases if Richardson can settle in behind center.

Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills

There might not be a guy I like more on this list than Coleman. As a rookie, he averaged 19.2 yards per catch, posting 556 receiving yards and four touchdowns on just 29 receptions.

Repeating that yards per catch average will be difficult. But Coleman could get close to that average and be a tremendous fantasy asset with greater volume.

With his big-play potential, Coleman is a high-upside receiver. Fantasy managers should fill their bench with as many of those types of pass-catchers as possible.

Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers

My running back breakout list was almost entirely rookies. This receiver list is nearly the opposite with only a couple first-year players.

Let's conclude this list with the Packers first first-round wideout in more than two decades.

Golden has reportedly been impressive at Packers practice this summer. Green Bay has a full receiver room, but there should still be opportunities for Golden to get plenty of targets as a rookie.

Last season, he had 978 receiving yards with nine touchdowns while averaging 17 yards per catch for Texas.