# Matt Okada: Okada names 14 players as 2026 fantasy football breakout candidates whose draft cost does not reflect their upside, spanning quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and tight ends, and predicts Isaiah Likely will be the Giants' No. 1 tight end.

**Claimed:** Aug 12, 2026
**Pundit:** Matt Okada — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/matt-okada
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.nfl.com/news/2026-nfl-fantasy-football-breakout-candidates-at-qb-rb-wr-and-te

3 checkable claims — 2 sleeper calls and 1 depth chart call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.

It names 6 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room.

> I've mined several of those nuggets and collected 14 of the best candidates for a 2026 breakout.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Isaiah Likely to be 1st on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Isaiah Likely, New York Giants
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Jordyn Tyson to outplay his draft cost (going in the ninth round as the WR35 in ADP)**
  - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: Jordyn Tyson, New Orleans Saints
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Chig Okonkwo to outplay his draft cost (going essentially undrafted)**
  - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: Chig Okonkwo, Washington Commanders
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Isaiah Likely — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/isaiah-likely
- New York Giants — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/giants
- Jordyn Tyson — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jordyn-tyson
- New Orleans Saints — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/saints
- Chig Okonkwo — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/chig-okonkwo
- Washington Commanders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/commanders

## What others said about the same people

- Chris Simms on New Orleans Saints: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 47.62)
- Connor Rogers on New York Giants: Rogers picked Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle and the Giants to win their Week 3 games, saying the Chiefs win by two touchdowns and the Giants by a field goal. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/83d1e88b-95a0-45ba-83d3-f86297170c6c (scored 100)
- Nick Wright on New Orleans Saints: On his Week 3 pick show, Nick Wright gave straight-up final-score predictions for five games, calling blowouts by Seattle over Washington and Kansas City over Miami, a Jacksonville home win over New England, a narrow New Orleans win over the Raiders and a low-scoring Baltimore win over Dallas in Brazil. He also called Seattle the best team in the NFL with the league's best defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/afa6070a-4229-4b28-a922-31d609ad1adf (scored 33.33)
- Dan Beyer on New Orleans Saints: For his Week 3 survivor pick, he took the Saints to beat the Raiders at home, saying he doesn't see Las Vegas staying unbeaten. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/fdedf503-5121-4109-b003-d5c980b00456 (scored 0)
- Darrion Gray on New Orleans Saints: Predicted the Saints beat the Raiders 27-17 at home. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/778eb604-cf02-49f1-8468-fbc8b0798375 (scored 45.24)
- John Hendricks on New Orleans Saints: Predicted a lower-scoring Saints win over the Raiders, 24-19, with the defense carrying them. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5d6f55b1-d993-4659-a8b9-d95c6942875e (scored 42.86)

## More sleeper calls

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Derek Brown on Travis Hunter: Derek Brown ("Debro") laid out a slate of wide receiver breakouts — Ricky Pearsall, Jalen Coker, Egbuka, Jalen Waddle, Joshua Palmer, George Pickens, DeVonta Smith and Travis Hunter — while fading Xavier Worthy, Tyreek Hill and the cheap Cleveland/late-round types, and gave his own rankings well ahead of ADP for several of them. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/effe2fda-3dcb-489f-a1e1-f8fa5b11ada7 (scored 100)
- Tom Strachan on Ricky Pearsall: Tom Strachan backed Xavier Worthy, Jalen Coker, Egbuka, Jalen Waddle, Darnell Mooney, Zay Flowers, George Pickens, DeVonta Smith and Travis Hunter as values at their draft costs, while avoiding Jerry Jeudy and the Cleveland receivers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c42eacc5-eb10-4103-a94d-50545a487cbb (scored 100)
- Ryan Wormeli on Ricky Pearsall: Host Ryan Warmley endorsed Ricky Pearsall as a bet worth making and put his rookie-receiver capital in Tetairoa McMillan, while fading Zay Flowers at his cost and opting out of Marvin Harrison Jr. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/192d6e67-2e0e-49b3-bc82-4c8a77bd5950 (scored 100)
- Chris Welsh on Tyler Warren: Welsh drafted Christian McCaffrey, Breece Hall, RJ Harvey, Tetairoa McMillan, Travis Hunter, the Rams and Saints receivers, Justin Fields (a top-10 QB), Drake Maye (QB10-14), Travis Kelce and Tyler Warren, while passing on Joe Mixon, the Commanders backfield, Tyreek Hill, Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9f0f2132-f3b8-4813-b2b1-374b827d86a8 (scored 100)
- Pat Fitzmaurice on Rashee Rice: Pat Fitzmaurice gave draft-or-pass calls: reluctant drafts on Christian McCaffrey, RJ Harvey, Tetairoa McMillan (his WR16), Rashee Rice at a ninth-round price, Austin Ekeler, Chris Rodriguez, Chris Olave, Drake Maye (his QB8) and Tyler Warren, with passes on Breece Hall, Joe Mixon, Croskey-Merritt, Tyreek Hill, Travis Hunter, the Rams receivers and Justin Fields. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e36f1287-466c-4889-a7ea-c9d86f4b5182 (scored 0)
- Joe Pisapia on Tyreek Hill: Joey P (Joe Pisapia) played draft-or-pass on 2025 fantasy values: he passed on Christian McCaffrey at pick 7, Breece Hall, Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Travis Hunter and Chris Olave, while drafting RJ Harvey, Tyreek Hill, Tetairoa McMillan, Puka Nacua, Tyler Warren and a late-round Joe Mixon. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c3c95c1c-64a4-42b6-9389-58d5fb5b27d1 (scored 0)

---

Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages.

Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology

We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us:
https://missedtakes.co/corrections?pundit=matt-okada
