{"id":279620,"date":"2025-11-12T12:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/279620\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T12:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:27:08","slug":"predicting-every-nfl-teams-biggest-breakout-player-for-second-half-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/279620\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicting Every NFL Team&#8217;s Biggest Breakout Player for Second Half of the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Dallas Cowboys: Edge Donovan Ezeiruaku<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Rookie pass-rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku has already made an impact for the Dallas Cowboys. He has two sacks and 10 quarterback pressures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">The Boston College product has had both sacks, three QB hits and three tackles for loss over his last three games, and his production could continue rising over the second half of the season. Dallas added Quinnen Williams at the trade deadline, and he should create regular one-on-one opportunities for the guys playing next to him. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">New York Giants: TE Theo Johnson<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Second-year tight end Theo Johnson has been a regular part of the New York Giants&#8217; offensive plan since last season. However, the team needs him to take on a bigger role with Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo both done for the year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Johnson, who is coming off a seven-catch, 75-yard performance, has shown he&#8217;s capable of being a go-to target. Interim coach Mike Kafka should make him an offensive focal point moving forward. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Philadelphia Eagles: Edge Jaelan Phillips<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Jaelan Phillips had a strong early career with the Dolphins before injuries cost him most of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He faced an uncertain future in a contract year with a struggling defense before Miami traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">In his first game as an Eagle, the 26-year-old showed his difference-making potential. After recording six tackles, two quarterback hits, one key tackle for loss and a fumble recovery on Monday night, he is poised to become a star in Philly&#8217;s defense. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Washington Commanders: DT Jer&#8217;Zhan Newton<\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jer&#8217;Zhan Newton showed flashes as a rookie last season, finishing with 44 tackles and two sacks. He&#8217;s already up to 22 tackles and two sacks this year, and he could be even more productive over the second half of 2025. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium css-1vqr2el\">The 23-year-old played a season-high <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong css-lu48cp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/N\/NewtJe00\/gamelog\/2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">40 percent<\/a> of the defensive snaps in Week 10, and now head coach Dan Quinn has decided to <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong css-lu48cp\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/commanders-hc-dan-quinn-take-over-defensive-coordinator-role-joe-whitt-jr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">take over<\/a> the defensive play-calling. If Quinn can boost the defense, Newton&#8217;s profile will rise considerably. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys: Edge Donovan Ezeiruaku Rookie pass-rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku has already made an impact for the Dallas Cowboys.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-279620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}