5 breakout stars to watch for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021

4. Bryan Edwards, WR

After being taken in the third round of the 2020 draft, Edwards was a sneaky sleeper heading into his rookie season in some circles. But he wound up with just 11 catches (on 15 targets) for 193 yards and a touchdown in 12 games. The emergence of Nelson Agholor was a factor, as was the fact the Raiders targeted their wide receivers less than any team in the NFL–43.4 percent of their pass attempts, according to Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed of The Athletic (subscription required). But Edwards also only played 24 percent of the team’s offensive snaps (35.9 percent in the games he played).

The Raiders added wide receivers John Brown and Willie Snead in free agency, which isn’t good news for the chance Edwards has to earn a bigger role this year. That said, the two veterans aren’t insurmountably good either.

The tools that made Edwards an interesting rookie are still there–size (6-foot-3, 212 pounds) and speed (79th percentile Speed Score, according to Player Profiler). If things go the right way, there’s a bigger role available and a second-year breakout is not out of the question.