3 Second-Half Fantasy Football Breakouts - Risers and Trade Targets

Three fantasy football breakouts, risers, trade targets to acquire for the second half of 2025. Players primed for breakouts include Alec Pierce, Troy Franklin, more.

Finding players that mostly struggled through the first part of the season, but appear to be on the verge of a breakout, or have already had big games that could constitute a breakout, is one of the best ways to gain an edge in your fantasy football leagues.

It's not just rookies that you have to keep your eye on. Players that have been in the league for a few years often are just hitting their stride. Second and third-year breakouts mid-season are quite common in the biggest professional sports league in America.

So let's dive into three players that are beyond their first season in the league that you should make moves for. These players could have a big impact on your team moving forward and help elevate you further!

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
• Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
• Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
• Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
• FLEX fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Alec Pierce, WR, Indianapolis Colts

Pierce is in his fourth year in the NFL now. While he's mostly been used as a deep threat up to this point, there's now quite a lot of film from this season of him taking major strides as a route-runner while maintaining his excellent speed and acceleration.

The treat of the big downfield plays has forced defenders to play more off-coverage, where they give him more space to run downfield for fear of getting burned. He's developed enough as a route-runner to often be able to snap off these routes into hitches, outs, and in routes, affording him plenty of separation.

AP DOWN THERE SOMEWHERE.

📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/sZlJUd4hpj

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 19, 2025

Pierce will continue to run plenty of deep routes, which will help keep the big-play upside he has. But Indianapolis traded away WR Adonai Mitchell after a series of gaffes, and Pierce won't have to worry about the second-year pro taking any more of his playing time.

He thus will step into the clear WR2 role for one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. Despite the presence of other legit pass-catching weapons, he has major upside as a flex player with WR2 upside. And that upside could grow.

J.J. McCarthy, QB, Minnesota Vikings

McCarthy's career has been a roller coaster to this point. He missed his entire rookie season with a meniscus injury. Then, this year, he got the starting nod, and played seven quarters of bad football and one of good ball in his first two games before spraining his ankle.

Then, he returned to start in Week 9, and led his team to a victory over the divisional rival Detroit Lions. McCarthy likely has the starting job on lock for the rest of the year, as quarterback Carson Wentz (shoulder) is out for the season.

pic.twitter.com/gPpADGDnvt

— kase media 📸 (@vsvmedia) November 3, 2025

He had 19.9 PPR fantasy points in that game, though he could have had plenty more if it weren't for a few missed opportunities that weren't his fault. Wide receiver Jordan Addison dropped what should have been a touchdown pass, and the interception he threw is a correctable mistake.

His rushing upside also makes him a tantalizing player to have moving forward. It's well-established that quarterbacks that are highly athletic and willing to run have massive, cheat-code upside in fantasy football. Rushing yards and rush TDs are much more valuable than passing yards and pass TDs.

McCarthy projects as a low-to-mid QB1 in the later part of the season, according to my analysis, so he should be rostered in all 12-team leagues.

Troy Franklin, WR, Denver Broncos

Franklin might be challenging for the WR1 job in Denver. At the very least, he's making a case to be the 1B alongside WR Courtland Sutton. While Franklin continues to struggle with drops at times, that hasn't stopped the team from targeting him heavily the past three games.

Here come the 4th quarter Broncos!

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/lZ8FGdCJBm

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 2, 2025

Franklin has shown major improvement in all facets of his game this year, except for consistency with his hands. He's capable of making tough catches like the one above, but if he cleans up those issues, he has massive upside in a good passing offense.

Despite the occasional struggles of starting QB Bo Nix, Denver still has an excellent offense -- it's a good environment for a WR, and one that could turn Franklin into a weekly must-start down the stretch. Despite the Thursday Night Football matchup with the Raiders that showed almost no offense from both teams, Franklin was still featured with 10 targets, five receptions, one touchdown and 15 points in PPR leagues.

Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer Tool for Week 10

Want more fantasy football trade advice? Be sure to also bookmark our free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer tool to assist with your trade offers. The Trade Analyzer tool allows you to add up to three players on each side of a trade and calculate whether it is fair or not for fantasy football. You instantly get a recommendation on which side of the trade is a better deal.

The Trade Analyzer tool will display various information side by side for you to compare the players involved in any trade and help you make better decisions. Compare projections and stats, read the latest fantasy football news, and see upcoming schedules.

Fantasy Football Trade Rankings Values

The higher the Trade Value number, the higher the priority for targeting in trades. Find your players, add up the trade values of each side of the offer, and see which side of the trade wins.

Who Should I Trade For?

Week 10 Trade Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Jaxson Dart, Kyle Monangai, RJ Harvey. These are some key fantasy football names heading into the second half.

Using The Trade Values. This is a simple trade value tool, but very powerful. In our fantasy football trade value rankings above, you will see the Trade Value for each player. The higher the number, the higher the priority for targeting in trades. Players with a high trade value number are players that you should be targeting more in trades.

How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings, projections, and trade values based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this trade value rankings.

How To Calculate Trades. Fantasy football managers will make 1-for-1 trades, or 2-for-3 trades, or 3-for-2 trades, or many other combinations. For each side of the deal, add the trade values together. Whichever side has a higher total number wins the trade. For example, if someone is offering you three players, add the trade values of those three players together. Does the value of those three players exceed the values of the player(s) you are trading away? If so then it's a good deal for you.

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