Inside The Star
The 2025 NFL season has its usual headliners, but the most interesting story might be the next wave of playmakers forcing their way into the spotlight.
Some are rookies already playing like veterans. Others are second-year players or overlooked vets finally getting a full workload.
Using Pro Football Focus grades and advanced metrics, here are six breakout playmakers you need to know as the season turns toward the stretch run.
Year 2 is when good receivers often make “the jump,” and Rome Odunze is right on schedule.
Chicago drafted him for size and vertical ability, but he’s become a complete weapon. Through the 2025 season:
Odunze is winning on deep posts, back-shoulder throws, and in the red zone. With top-20 volume in targets and pass snaps, he’s not just flashing potential — he’s functioning like a true WR1playmaker in a developing Bears offense.
If Odunze is the classic second-year leap, Emeka Egbuka is the classic “how did everyone miss this rookie playmaker?”
Tampa has thrown him straight into a featured role, and he has responded with top-10 production among all receivers, not just first-year players:
Egbuka combines clean routes with real explosiveness after the catch (5.4 YAC per reception). His 343 routes run (14th) and 371 pass snaps (13th) show the Bucs view him as a centerpiece already.
This is the kind of rookie season that usually launches a Pro Bowl run in year two.
The Cowboys needed new juice on the edge, and rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku has delivered it.
He isn’t just surviving in his first NFL season — his tape and numbers say he’s already a high-end rotational pass rusher with every-down upside:
On just 350 total snaps, including 198 pass-rush snaps, that kind of pressure and hit rate pops off the page.
With Quinnen Williams collapsing pockets inside in your universe, Ezeiruaku is the perfect playmaker off the edge — and a very real Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate.
Not every breakout playmaker is a rookie. Some are veterans who finally land in the perfect role. That’s Nate Landman in Los Angeles.
The Rams ask him to be the heartbeat of their front seven, and he’s answered with...
