The Big Ten enters the 2026 season with well-earned bragging rights, having just claimed a third consecutive College Football Playoff national title thanks to Indiana's Cinderella run. After decades of SEC dominance, the tide seems to be turning, and the chirping out of the Midwest (and, uh, the West Coast; god bless college football geography) is getting louder and louder.
But college football is the ultimate "what have you done for me lately?" sport. And while it's been a while since they were on top at the end, the SEC is once again poised to field some very talented teams this fall. If the B1G wants to keep its place at the mountaintop, they're going to have to reload in a hurry — luckily, these breakout candidates have a chance to do just that.
Byron Baldwin Jr., S, Indiana
Curt Cignetti's work in the transfer portal earns all the headlines, but he's also transformed Indiana's high-school recruiting, and Baldwin Jr. arrived in Bloomington last year as the top-ranked freshman in the Hoosiers' 2025 class. An injury sidelined him for the first half of the season, but he saw more and more playing time down the stretch, up to and including the national championship game win over Miami.
The hype has been building for quite some time now, and Baldwin Jr. enters his second fall camp earning rave reviews and seemingly in line to start at the nickel/safety hybrid spot for what should be another sturdy IU defense. If he continues on the current trajectory, it's wheels up.
Payton Pierce, LB, Ohio State
When you're sharing a linebacker room with future top-10 picks Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles, opportunities will be hard to come by. But even with limited run last season, Pierce showed real flashes, with 44 tackles to go with a pick and a forced fumble. Now he becomes a leader on a retooled Ohio State defense for whom the expectations have not been lowered (if they ever are). The buzz in camp has been positive, and he's got more sideline-to-sideline juice than he probably gets credit for even if he's not quite as dynamic as his predecessors at the second level. If the Buckeyes are going to maintain their championship standard on that side of the ball, he'll have to be ready in time for the Week 2 trip to Texas.
JJ Buchanan, WR, Michigan
I could make the case for Buchanan as a breakout player for this year's Wolverine, or I could let his head coach, Kyle Whittingham, do it for me.
“He’s, at times, unguardable in practice,” Whittingham told Alejando Zuniga of The Michigan Insider. “The 50-50 ball, the contested catch up the field, he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever been around. He’s got size — 6-3, 215 pounds. He can run. He can jump. He’s tough. He’ll block. He’s a complete receiver in all aspects.”
Buchanan started his career at Utah, posting 427 yards and a robust 16.4 yards per catch as a freshman before following Whittingham to Ann Arbor. Andrew Marsh looks like the unquestioned top target for Bryce Underwood, but if Michigan learned anything from its 2025 season, it's that more weapons will have to emerge for this offense to take off. Buchanan making plays will go a long way toward making Underwood more comfortable as a passer.
Jahkeem Stewart, DL, USC
If you wanted to argue that Stewart's breakout already happened last season, I wouldn't argue the point too much. He posted 7.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in his first year on campus and was impressive enough to earn Freshman All-America honors. But the scary part is he might just be getting started.
Stewart did all of the above on a broken foot that he sustained during USC's season opener, one that would eventually require surgery. Oh, and did we mention that he only played one full year of high school ball? Taking all that into consideration, his rate of growth so far is downright freakish. With a year of collegiate experience and another full offseason under his belt, the sky is the limit — and the Trojans will need his disruption on the interior if they want to finally build a championship-caliber defense.
Nasir Wyatt, LB, Oregon
It's tricky to identify a breakout candidate on a team that brings back as much talent as Oregon does, from QB Dante Moore to receivers Dakorien Moore, Jeremiah McClellan and Evan Stewart to tight end Jamari Johnson to running backs to Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill to defensive linemen Bear Alexander, A'Mauri Washington and Matayo Uiagalelei. But it feels like Wyatt's name has been popping just about every day so far in camp, as he looks to take a sophomore leap that would raise the ceiling of this defense considerably.
Wyatt showed plenty of promise as a freshman, tallying three sacks including one in the College Football Playoff loss to Indiana. If he's ready to see regular playing time, he could provide serious juice off the edge that Oregon simply hasn't had in recent years (just ask Fernando Mendoza or Will Howard).
Malachi Goodman, OT, Penn State
Matt Campbell will be relying heavily on Iowa State transfers in his first year at Penn State. But arguably the biggest win of his transition to Happy Valley came when he convinced Goodman to stick around rather than follow James Franklin to Virginia Tech (or head elsewhere).
A five-star recruit in last year's high school class — the only five-star recruit currently on the Nittany Lions' roster, in fact — Goodman took a redshirt behind a veteran-laden depth chart. Now, though, he looks to have the inside track to start at left tackle, and how quickly he can adjust to life in the Big Ten will go a long way toward determining how well Rocco Becht and this offense can function in year one of the Campbell era. If his pedigree is any indication, it should be sooner rather than later.
Jamal Rule, RB, Nebraska
At times it felt like running back Emmett Johnson was the only thing working with Nebraska's offense last season, tallying 1,451 yards on the ground and another 370 as a receiver before being taken in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. His departure leaves a massive void that Matt Rhule and the Huskers need to fill, and if camp hype is any indication, it seems like Rule could be that guy.
He wasn't all that well-regarded out of high school, a three-star recruit who chose Nebraska over Virginia Tech, Syracuse, and Michigan State. From the moment he stepped on campus this spring, though, the buzz has been building, and it sure sounds like he'll get the first crack at lining up next to QB Anthony Colandrea in Week 1. If the Huskers have a running game, this offense should have everything it needs to make some noise in the Big Ten.
Dezmen Roebuck, WR, Washington
Denzel Boston garnered all the accolades, but Washington's second-leading receiver last year was Roebuck, who grabbed 42 passes for 560 yards and seven touchdowns as a true freshman. Now Boston's off to the Cleveland Browns, meaning that star QB Demond Williams needs a new No. 1 target — and Roebuck has reportedly been almost uncoverable in camp.
The upside with this offense is massive, with Williams back after a flirtation with LSU over the offseason and a big, experienced line in front of him. If Roebuck is ready to fill Boston's shoes, he could be put a 1,000-yard season and have the Huskies flirting with a Playoff spot.
Add us as a preferred source on Google