NFL training camps open later this month, and that means it’s time to separate the defenders who flashed last season from the ones about to become full-blown problems. NFL Network analyst and former scout Bucky Brooks put together a list of 11 defensive breakout candidates for 2026, and his picks lean heavily on a familiar pattern: second- and third-year players who closed 2025 strong and are now stepping into bigger roles, better schemes, or both.
Here’s a closer look at who made the cut and why each name has real breakout potential heading into camp.
EDGE: Abdul Carter, New York Giants
Carter went third overall in the 2025 draft and immediately looked the part of a disruptive force — just not in the way the stat sheet showed. According to Next Gen Stats, he generated 72 total quarterback pressures as a rookie, including a league-best 48 “quick pressures” that came in under 2.5 seconds. The problem: only four of those pressures turned into sacks.
That gap between pressure and production is the headline number teams are watching this offseason. Carter posted an 84.5 PFF pass-rush grade, 10th among 115 qualified edge defenders, and a 20.7% pass-rush win rate that ranked fifth in the league, per Empire Sports Media. In plain terms: he was beating blockers at an elite rate. He just wasn’t finishing.
New defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson is building an aggressive front designed to fix exactly that. Brooks describes the unit as ready to unleash “organized chaos” through a five-man rotation of rare athletes — Carter, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Arvell Reese and Tremaine Edmunds. With that much talent rotating through the front seven, opposing lines won’t be able to double-team their way out of trouble. Carter should see more one-on-one snaps than he saw as a rookie, and if his rush-win rate holds anywhere close to last year’s level, the sack total should finally catch up to the pressure numbers.
EDGE: Mike Green, Baltimore Ravens
Jesse Minter returning to Baltimore as defensive coordinator — paired with the offseason arrival of pass rusher Trey Hendrickson — sets up a big season for Green, a twitchy, first-step-quick edge defender at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds. As a rookie, Green posted 3.5 sacks, 14 quarterback hits and 41 total tackles.
The scheme shift matters here. Minter’s attack-style defense forces offenses to account for Hendrickson on one side, which should open up isolated matchups for Green on the other. Per Brooks’ analysis, that combination of scheme aggression and reduced double-team attention could push Green toward double-digit sacks as a designated rusher in Year 2.
DT: Walter Nolen, Arizona Cardinals
Nolen, the No. 16 overall pick in 2025, spent most of his rookie year on the sideline rather than the field — injuries limited him to six games and just 160 defensive snaps, according to Next Gen Stats. In that limited window, he still managed two sacks, five tackles for loss, five quarterback hits and a fumble recovery.
The flashes were loud enough to matter. Nolen’s combination of explosiveness and power at the point of attack overwhelmed interior blockers when he was healthy. A full, uninterrupted season as Arizona’s starting interior disruptor could be enough to put him in the Pro Bowl conversation, per Brooks.
DT: Darius Alexander, New York Giants
New York created a clear opportunity for Alexander when it traded veteran defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati this offseason. A 2025 third-round pick, Alexander now has a direct path to a starting job on the interior — and that path got even wider after Roy Robertson-Harris suffered a season-ending injury.
Alexander closed his rookie season with three sacks and three tackles for loss over his final six games. At 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds, he fits the mold of the sack-obsessed front New York is building around Carter and company. Brooks sees him as a key piece of that rebuilt defensive line heading into 2026.
LB: Jihaad Campbell, Philadelphia Eagles
Campbell spent his rookie year learning behind Nakobe Dean. With Dean gone to Las Vegas in free agency, Campbell now takes over full-time as the Eagles’ middle linebacker in Vic Fangio’s defense. His length and range fit Fangio’s scheme, and Brooks expects Campbell’s run-and-chase instincts — plus his ability to rush the passer from the second level — to make him a difference-maker in a starting role for the first time.
LB: Cedric Gray, Tennessee Titans
Gray quietly finished fifth in the NFL in total tackles (160) as a first-year starter in 2025. Now he becomes the centerpiece of a Titans defense being rebuilt by Robert Saleh and Gus Bradley around zone-based, “see ball, get ball” concepts — a scheme that plays directly to Gray’s instincts and diagnostic ability. Playing behind a defensive front anchored by Jeffery Simmons, Brooks expects Gray’s tackle numbers to climb even further in 2026.
CB: Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars
Hunter went second overall in 2025 with two-way-player hype attached to his name, but a knee injury in October cut his rookie season short. Jacksonville went 13-4 anyway, and now plans to use Hunter primarily as a full-time cornerback with a smaller role on offense — a shift that puts more weight on his coverage skills for a team with real playoff aspirations.
Brooks points to Hunter’s ball skills and instincts as the reason his health matters so much for Jacksonville’s ceiling. A healthy, full-time Hunter on the boundary for a turnover-hungry Jaguars defense could be the difference between an early playoff exit and a deep postseason run.
CB: Kool-Aid McKinstry, New Orleans Saints
McKinstry’s third season sets up as a make-or-break year for his CB1 case in New Orleans. The numbers cut both ways: he allowed a 101.3 passer rating and eight touchdowns in coverage last season, per Next Gen Stats, but he also broke up 17 passes, intercepted three more and made 76 tackles.
Under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s “vision and break” scheme, Brooks believes McKinstry has the tools to smooth out the inconsistency that’s followed him — and that the playmaking flashes suggest the ceiling is already there.
NB: Upton Stout, San Francisco 49ers
Stout looked the part of a star nickel corner as a rookie in 2025, finishing third on the 49ers with 82 tackles while making plays in multiple ways — breaking up passes, punching the ball loose and blitzing off the edge. Brooks sees him developing into a true difference-maker for a 49ers team with championship-level expectations.
S: Kevin Winston Jr., Tennessee Titans
Winston is the second Titan on Brooks’ list, and the new scheme under Saleh and Bradley plays to his strengths. Tennessee’s defense deploys safeties closer to the line of scrimmage more often, and while Winston will still handle deep-safety reps in quarters coverage, the reduced use of three-deep looks should mean more snaps for him in the box — where Brooks says he’s most effective.
S: Craig Woodson, New England Patriots
Woodson’s rookie stat line — 79 tackles, three passes defended, two fumble recoveries — won’t turn heads on its own. But Brooks describes him as a “glue guy” whose value shows up in positioning, communication and timing rather than box-score numbers. That kind of quietly reliable play, Brooks notes, tends to earn a player strong internal grades from coaches and executives even when it doesn’t generate headlines.
Brooks’ list leans on a clear theme: nearly every name here benefits from a scheme change, a departed veteran opening a starting job, or simply a full healthy season replacing an injury-shortened one. Camp battles will sharpen some of these projections, but the swings above are real.
