Fantasy Football 2021 Breakouts: Top five players to know include Michael Pittman Jr. as a Draft Day target

Calvin Ridley and A.J. Brown delivered breakout performers in 2020, and SportsLine nailed those recommendations last draft season. While neither Ridley nor Brown was taken in the top 15 at wide receiver per Average Draft Position, both players finished as No. 1 Fantasy wideouts last season. Ridley, the star Falcons receiver who has taken over as the No. 1 option in Atlanta, finished fifth overall at WR in PPR formats.

In order to find breakout performers, you must search for players who are seeing increased opportunities and should shoot up the depth charts. Players who are taking the next steps in their pro development are also ideal draft targets, and breakout performers can be identified in every range on the ADP ladder.

Before you start planning for your 2021 drafts and looking deeper for breakout candidates, you'll want to see what SportsLine's Scott Engel has to say. 

Engel is an inaugural member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association's Hall of Fame and has been a premier analyst and Fantasy personality for 25 years. He is a four-time FSWA Award Winner and 10-time nominee. In 2020, Scott was a finalist for the FSWA Fantasy Football Writer of the Year Award, which he also won previously. 

In addition to being the Fantasy writer for the Seattle Seahawks' official site since 2012, Engel has appeared on The Athletic, SiriusXM FantasySports Radio, ESPN.com, NFL.com, the Associated Press, Yahoo Sports, SI.com, the New York Post, USA Today, RotoBaller, and of course, CBSSports.com. 

Exclusively for SportsLine members, Engel has revealed his top five 2021 Fantasy Football breakout players. His picks include Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., saying the sophomore receiver showed "real promise in his rookie year and will now get a prime chance to become a big part of the Colts' passing game."   

"Pittman is a big target who outworks defensive backs on 50/50 balls and high throws and can break loose for sizable gainers after the catch," Engel says. "He is on track to become a Fantasy WR2/3 this season, as he easily has more upside than any other wideout on the Colts roster." Engel then points to a specific performance from last season that confirmed the second-year man is about to make a move into Fantasy prominence in 2021. 

Engel is all over four other breakout targets, including a running back ready to roll with the biggest chance of his career. You NEED to see his top five breakout candidates before you draft.

Which five breakouts will leap into Fantasy stardom? And which quarterback can boost you to a league title? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Scott Engel's 2021 Fantasy football breakouts, plus get the entire 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Bible, all from a Hall of Fame Fantasy analyst!