Second-Year Breakout WRs Are the Key to Fantasy Titles: Our System Will Help You Crush Your Draft
Image Credit: Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire. Pictured: D.K. Metcalf.

Shawn Siegele shares the WR Breakout System that won him an NFFC Grand Prize and has been delivering league-winning seasons for RotoViz subscribers ever since.

The entire offseason has been leading up to this draft weekend, and my entire draft plan has been leading up to this article. The 2020 Draft Strategy Series has been predicated on two elements – selecting the right Zero RB candidates and selecting enough WRs. But we also want to select the right WRs, and that’s why the second-year breakout candidates are so important.

Second-year WRs are the key to winning fantasy titles, and if you’re missing out on this window, you’re giving away the biggest advantage in fantasy.

In recent years, I’ve released this in several parts, but for 2020 we’re going with the Breakout WR Mega-Article. In this edition, we’ll cover . . .

  • the history of second-year WR breakouts and why they’re key to your title run
  • the key metrics for locating breakouts, along with multiple breakout models to help you beat ADP
  • all of the 2020 candidates, including detailed breakdowns, advanced stats, and target/avoid recommendations

More Ammunition for the Second-Year Breakout Thesis

From 2001 to 2019, 38 second-year wide receivers hit 200 points for the first time. If you think a rate of two a year is impressive, consider this: Since 2010, 26 WRs have broken out during their second years, more than any other breakout class has managed during the entire 19-year window. While fantasy owners used to believe in the third-year WR breakout, savvy owners know to target receivers during that second-year jump.

Wide receiver breakouts follow different patterns and have different key ingredients depending on the player’s experience. That’s why we’ve broken down the individual classes in detail.

We’ve saved the best for last. My research runs parallel to the excellent work from Blair Andrews on WR age curvesbreakout rates, and bounceback seasons. While I’m looking at 200-point seasons,[1] Blair has found that Year 2 also finds the most breakouts to WR3 status.

With that in mind, let’s break down all 38 second-year breakouts and discuss the trends we see for breakout players at the position.

The History of Second-Year Breakouts – Everything You Need to Know

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here

Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Which roughly correspond with a WR2 finish

Please subscribe For Full Access to all RotoViz content and tools!

 

What’s included in your subscription??

  • Exclusive Access to RotoViz Study Hall
    • A treasure trove of our most insightful articles that will teach you the metrics that matter, time-tested winning strategies, the approaches that will give you an edge, and teach you how to be an effective fantasy manager.
  • Revolutionary Tools
    • Including the NFL Stat Explorer, Weekly GLSP Projections, NCAA Prospect Box Score Scout, Combine Explorer, Range of Outcomes App, DFS Lineup Optimizer, Best Ball Suite,and many, many, more.
  • Groundbreaking Articles
    • RotoViz is home of the original Zero-RB article and continues to push fantasy gamers forward as the go-to destination for evidence-based analysis and strategic advantages.
  • Weekly Projections
    • Built using RotoViz’s unique GLSP approach.
  • Expert Rankings
  • And a whole lot more…

Shawn Siegele

Author of the original Zero RB article and 2013 NFFC Primetime Grand Champion. 11-time main event league winner. 2015, 2017, 2018 titles in MFL10 of Death.

The Banana Stand: How to Think About the RB Position Ahead of Week 3

In The Banana Stand, Shawn Siegele explores the RB position and makes some controversial predictions ahead of Week 3. After two weeks, what matters more? The depressing early-season workloads for TreVeyon Henderson and R.J. Harvey or the surprisingly early incursions from Cam Skattebo and Bhayshul Tuten. We’ll look at all of that and more in today’s exercise where I categorize every backfield by workload and…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here

The Banana Stand: 2025 Rest of Season Rankings

My in-season article this year will be The Banana Stand, a piece that shape shifts throughout the year to hopefully bring you whatever’s most relevant that week. The effort will combine observations from watching every NFL game with insights from the RotoViz tools and advanced stats from Sports Info Solutions. In today’s exercise, I’ll break down the Week 1 performance for the top-100 NFL players…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here

The 2025 RotoViz Redraft Game Plan: 19 Priority Targets, 40 Targets, and 235 Player Designations – Plus the In-Draft Tactics to Unlock Them All

Shawn Siegele releases his final 2025 redraft game plan. It includes 19 priority targets, 40 targets, and 235 player designations. Shawn uses the board to work through the draft and help you exploit structural opportunities throughout. Every year, I like to finish the offseason content with a comprehensive look at the state of drafts. The annual game plan provides priority targets but also works through…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here

The Banana Stand: How to Think About the RB Position Ahead of Week 3

In The Banana Stand, Shawn Siegele explores the RB position and makes some controversial predictions ahead of Week 3. After two weeks, what matters more? The depressing early-season workloads for TreVeyon Henderson and R.J. Harvey or the surprisingly early incursions from Cam Skattebo and Bhayshul Tuten. We’ll look at all of that and more in today’s exercise where I categorize every backfield by workload and…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here

The Banana Stand: 2025 Rest of Season Rankings

My in-season article this year will be The Banana Stand, a piece that shape shifts throughout the year to hopefully bring you whatever’s most relevant that week. The effort will combine observations from watching every NFL game with insights from the RotoViz tools and advanced stats from Sports Info Solutions. In today’s exercise, I’ll break down the Week 1 performance for the top-100 NFL players…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here

The 2025 RotoViz Redraft Game Plan: 19 Priority Targets, 40 Targets, and 235 Player Designations – Plus the In-Draft Tactics to Unlock Them All

Shawn Siegele releases his final 2025 redraft game plan. It includes 19 priority targets, 40 targets, and 235 player designations. Shawn uses the board to work through the draft and help you exploit structural opportunities throughout. Every year, I like to finish the offseason content with a comprehensive look at the state of drafts. The annual game plan provides priority targets but also works through…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here

The Blitz

Connect
Support

rotovizmain@gmail.com

Sign-up today for our free Premium Email subscription!

Data provided by

© 2021 RotoViz. All rights Reserved.

Welcome Back to RotoViz...

– IF YOU HAVE ISSUES LOGGING IN PLEASE CONTACT ROTOVIZMAIN@GMAIL.COM

– PLEASE NOTE THAT ROTOVIZ USES WORDPRESS FOR ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT. IF RESETTING YOUR PASSWORD YOU MAY BE FOWARDED TO A WORDPRESS PAGE.