5 breakout candidates college football fans should already know

The college football season is a lot closer than you think. With the NFL Draft behind us, we turn our attention to the upcoming season. Which players are set for a breakout season and which ones will remind people why they shouldn’t have been under the radar in 2026. This is going to be a season with a lot of talk. The quarterbacks will dominate the narrative, but they aren’t the only players that will be talked about this season. 

Here are the players set for a breakout season and will undoubtedly be names you either know going into the season or know after it.

RB Ahmad Hardy, Missouri

• Should be in the Heisman conversation this year
• 2025 stats: 1,649 rushing yards, 16 TDs

Remember all the love Jeremiyah Love got at Notre Dame last season? Ahmad Hardy should be getting that same attention this year. He had a monstrous season, reaching nearly 1,700 rushing yards. He didn’t get nearly as much notoriety thanks to a hot-and-cold season. Unless Missouri goes belly up this year, expect to hear a lot more of Hardy’s name. It’s hard for running backs to crack into the Heisman conversation — especially with this many quarterbacks already as frontrunners. 

That said, Hardy should absolutely be a player you hear quite a bit about this fall. The fact that he rushed for more than 1,600 yards against SEC defenses tells you everything you need to know. The quarterbacks are getting a lot of hype, but Hardy could end up being a steal in the 2027 draft for a team needing to beef up their run game. 

Hardy was underrecruited out of high school and started his college career at UL-Monroe. Now that he’s on the big stage for the second-straight season, he should have another breakout year. You probably remember hearing his name early in the season and quickly forgot about him. This year, you won’t be able to avoid him, even if you wanted to. 

EDGE Colin Simmons, Texas

• Beast off the edge that can terrorize offensive lines
• 2025 stats: 43 tackles, 12 sacks, 3 forced fumbles

You thought this Texas defense was going to take a hit after losing Malik Muhammad and Anthony Hill Jr.? Nope. This defense will still be elite and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will have a field day with the weapons he has in 2026, starting with Colin Simmons. He’s a beast off the edge, recording 21 sacks in his first two seasons. He’s a player that will single-handedly disrupt the game. 

While he may not climb into the Heisman conversation, that doesn’t mean he won’t collect awards along the way this season. He will probably be an All-American, find his name on an All-SEC team and potentially be in the conversation of being a top pick in the NFL Draft. Simmons should have a huge season this year. 

He hasn’t been getting talked about like some of the other EDGE rushers from last year, but if declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, I believe he would have been one of the first ones off the board. All that means is in 2027, he can find his way to being a Day 1 pick. There are a lot of quarterbacks that will get taken in the front end of the draft, but whoever lands Simmons will be set. 

CB Grayson Littleton, Texas

• Started all 13 games as a true freshman
• Handled top receivers like an elite cornerback
• 2025 stats: 2 INTs, 2 forced fumbles, 6 passes defended

Grayson Littleton burst onto the scene Week 1 when he drew the Jeremiah Smith assignment. He went on to have a solid freshman season that he should follow up in 2026. Malik Muhammad is in the NFL and now he becomes the top cornerback on this defense. Texas should be in good hands. Not only do they have an elite pass rusher that will put non-stop pressure on quarterbacks, they’ll have a ball hawk in the secondary. 

Muhammad got a lot of attention on that defense last year, but Littleton will be the player to know on this defense aside from Simmons. Muschamp couldn’t have walked into a better situation in Texas and it should help the Longhorns get over the hump in the College Football Playoff. They’ve reached the semifinals twice in the last three years. 

Arch Manning will again be a name that you can’t avoid all year. He’s going to be the narrative of this team, but there’s more to the Longhorns success than how Manning plays. How this defense looks — which has been a strength under Steve Sarkisian — will be the true test. Littleton will very much be a difference maker. 

RB Caleb Hawkins, Oklahoma State

• Top G5 running back in 2025 at North Texas
• Followed Eric Morris to Oklahoma State
• 2025 stats: 1,434 rushing yards, 25 TDs

It feels very likely Hawkins has another breakout season this time on the big stage. Sure, the Big 12 isn’t on the same plane as the SEC or Big Ten, but it’s much better than the AAC, when Hawking played at North Texas last year. This Oklahoma State team has new life after Mike Gundy expired at Oklahoma State with a miserable 2025 season. How this offense looks will be entirely up to this young core. 

Hawkins isn’t just a big-play running back, he’s a red zone beast. I’m not sure he’ll work his way into Heisman territory, but he should be one of the best running backs in the Big 12 and one of the best in the country again. When you run for more than 1,400 yards and 20 touchdowns in a season, regardless of conference, you know how to impact the game. 

QB Malik Washington, Maryland

• Standout freshman season at Maryland as the face of this young team
• Tapered off toward the end of the year, but should be set for a big 2026
• 2025 stats: 2,963 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, 9 INTs

It’s going to be hard for Malik Washington to crack into the top tier of quarterbacks because there are too many of them this year. That said, Washington had a solid start to 2025 and immediately let the Big Ten know he was around. Then, Maryland ended up not having a good season, he missing some games to injury and that flame ultimately died out. This year, he’s back to show the Terrapins can be good. 

Maryland won’t have an easy test this season — the Big Ten is never easy — but if Washington develops into a better quarterback this year, he’ll absolutely be in the conversation for one of the top quarterbacks in college football.

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