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The dreaded sophomore slump has hindered many Fantasy seasons after an excellent Rookie campaign.
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Emeka Ebuka, Luther Burden III and Bhayshul Tuten are slotted to avoid the sophomore slump and increase their Fantasy output.
Fantasy managers should make note of Ebuka, Burden III and Tuten as second-year players to bookmark heading into their Fantasy drafts.
Emeka Egbuka
In a Buccaneers wide receiver room filled with uncertainty because of injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr., rookie first-round pick Egbuka (WR 15, 33 ADP in PPR Leagues) filled in the absence of the two franchise cornerstones.
Egbuka stepped up in his unanticipated role as the focal point of the Bucs’ passing game, finishing with 938 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns, good for 11.5 FPPG in PPR leagues.
The 127 targets stood out the most during Egbuka’s rookie campaign. Egbuka’s 127 targets led all Buccaneers, beating second place Cade Otton by 46 targets, and led all rookie wide receivers.
Egbuka’s targets don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon as Bucs icon Evans joined the 49ers this offseason, leaving Egbuka to seize control of the Bucs WR 1 spot.
EMEKA EGBUKA. Unreal one-handed catch!
NYJvsTB on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVntpic.twitter.com/K8DFIGvYGW
– NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025
An area of focus heading into Egbuka’s sophomore season is his reception rate. Egbuka’s and quarterback Baker Mayfield’s chemistry was off at times as seen in Egbuka’s 49.6% reception rate,
While the duo weren’t on the same page all the time, Mayfield has finished top 10 in passing yards since joining Tampa Bay, giving Egbuka a Fantasy friendly quarterback.
Having a gunslinger behind him and even more targets opening up after Evans’ departure makes Egbuka the clear standout in second-year wide receivers in any scoring format.
Luther Burden III
Burden III (WR 22, 43 ADP in PPR Leagues) showcased his Fantasy potential on Sunday Night Football in week 17 against the 49ers.
The second-round pick finished with 8 receptions, 138 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown, tallying 27.8 Fantasy points in PPR leagues.
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Early on in Burden III’s season, the rookie was fighting for snaps against DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Olamide Zaccheaus.
Burden III played about a quarter of the snaps in the first half of the season. As the season went on Burden III would play more often, getting about half the snaps a game after the Bears’ bye week.
Despite the low snap share, Burden III finished with 652 receiving yards, 61 yards behind Bears receiving leader Colston Loveland.
Looking ahead to the 2026 season, both Moore and Zaccheaus left the Bears, leaving an abundance of snaps for Burden III to receive.
A higher snap count in a wide-open receiver room gives Burden III the platform to showcase his Sunday Night Football performance from last season on a more consistent basis in the 2026 season.
Bears HC Ben Johnson is buying Luther Burden stock. pic.twitter.com/gcSuB74DYt
– Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 28, 2026
Bhayshul Tuten
The departure of Travis Etienne Jr. to New Orleans leaves the Jaguars lead running back role up for grabs and Tuten (RB 24 57 ADP in PPR Leagues) is in the spot to take the role.
Etienne Jr leaves behind 1,107 rushing yards behind for a Jags running back room consisting of Tuten, Chris Rodriguez Jr. and fellow second-year player LeQuint Allen Jr. to earn this upcoming season.
Tuten seems in position to take the majority of the workload as the second-year running back is turning heads at minicamp, according to Jaguars beat writer John Shipley
Jaguars RB Bhayshul Tuten is turning heads at minicamp, per @_John_Shipley
“Tuten left the defense firmly in his dust on several big runs in team drills, and he continues to look like one of the most explosive elements of the entire offense.” pic.twitter.com/OM0wd40wEi
– SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) June 9, 2026
Even if there’s a running back by committee approach taken by head coach Liam Coen, Tuten should still see a decent workload as the Jags were eight in the NFL in rushing attempts last season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Luther Burden III and 2 More Second-Year Players to Target in Fantasy Football Drafts.
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This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 9:39 AM.