Fantasy football - Rome Odunze, J.J. McCarthy among favorite breakouts - ESPN

The «Fantasy Focus Football» podcast will begin doing shows previewing the 2025 season daily starting on July 28. Field Yates, Mike Clay and Daniel Dopp provide a taste of what you can expect by highlighting their favorite breakouts.

Sabrina Carpenter, Shaboozey, Kai Cenat, Cameron Ward: All of them have been breakout stars recently.

In the fantasy football world, we're always looking for the breakout stars going into the season, so I've enlisted the help of my pals Mike Clay and Daniel Dopp to deliver a handful of players who are ready for liftoff.

I'll start, because I asked Mike to start but he never responds to my texts.

Create a league and customize league size, scoring and rules to play in the league you want to play in.

Create a league today!

On paper last season, Odunze checked some important boxes you are looking for in a potential fantasy starter: He played the second-most snaps among Bears wide receivers and topped 100 targets for the season (he had 101). The reasons for optimism are relatively straightforward to me: Caleb Williams and the entire offensive operation should be much better this season under head coach Ben Johnson, who I firmly expect to maximize Odunze's skill set. Equally as important is Odunze is an excellent prospect, as he was — in my estimation — a strong value as the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. He has a unique blend of size, speed, route-running acumen and strong hands that screams future NFL star, something that could happen as soon as this season. Mike, if you actually see this, you're on the clock.

New phone, who dis? The first name on my list is Harrison, a guy we thought might break out as a rookie last season. Expectations were extremely high for the 2024 fourth overall