Josh Rachele, Nate Caddy and Jagga Smith headline breakout stars who could be 2026 AFL season's needle

When you are charting your course towards a premiership, one of the major steps in that journey is aided by players taking leaps.

A fringe player can find himself in the best 22 after a strong year of development, a young player can become one of the better players on their team, or an already established young star can put themselves into All-Australian contention.

For the purposes of this exercise, the players selected here were required to be ones who have not previously made an All-Australian team or the squad of 40.

Ahead of the home and away season getting underway, here's who could pop for your club in 2026.

Adelaide — Josh Rachele

The Crows are expecting Rachele to take the leap into fringe All-Australian contention this year, and the timing feels right.

The former top-10 pick is entering his fifth AFL season and is somewhat of a known commodity.

The 22-year-old has spent most of his first four seasons as a dangerous small forward who can pinch-hit in the middle, but he's expected to see a major uptick in his midfield minutes in 2026.

With 97 goals in 70 appearances — including 27 in just 14 matches last season — a version of Rachele who sees more of the ball could lead to some explosive results for Adelaide.

Brisbane Lions — Jaspa Fletcher

Fletcher is somewhat of an unsung hero when it comes to discussing the Lions' host of young players.

The attention rightly goes to two-time Norm Smith Medal winner Will Ashcroft and his younger brother, Levi, but Fletcher has quietly made himself into an excellent footballer as well.

Fletcher averaged a career-high 21.3 disposals per game in 27 appearances last season and is likely to see another uptick in this facet this year as well.

He was one of Brisbane's best in last year's grand final win over Geelong, racking up 29 disposals and could become one of the league's premier halfbacks this season.

Carlton — Jagga Smith

It feels somewhat wrong picking a player who's not played a single AFL game as a breakout star, but that's just how high the wraps are on Smith.

The Blues suffered through so much of a nightmare season in 2025 that people seemed to forget that Smith, their prized draft choice from the previous year, did not play a single game.

Having fully recovered from his knee injury, Smith has not missed a beat during this pre-season and looks like a seasoned professional.

He will get to log a ton of centre bounce reps and already shows the makings of a midfielder who will have no problems hitting the scoreboard as well.

Collingwood — Ed Allan

Collingwood is crying out for one of their young players in the non-Nick Daicos division to take a leap.

The Pies come into the season ranked No.1 in terms of average games played and average age, but will hope 21-year-old midfielder Ed Allan has a breakout season.

The 194cm midfielder logged 13 games last season and averaged 13.2 touches per contest, playing in three of those games as a sub.

Now coming into his third AFL season, Allan offers the Pies midfield a major point of difference as a bigger midfielder and has already shown he has a nose for the goal throughout this pre-season.

Essendon — Nate Caddy

It feels a little silly saying Caddy is primed for a breakout when he already has so much hype around him.

Everyone is excited about Caddy after his first two seasons yielded 27 games and 29 goals, but this feels like the year where he becomes a bona fide top dog in Essendon's forward line.

After having his first couple of years curtailed by some soft tissue injuries, Caddy has so far enjoyed a clean bill of health this pre-season, and looks noticeably bulkier through his upper body as well.

Caddy looked extremely dangerous in the Dons' scratch match against Richmond, and could see his goal tally rocket from the 20s to north of 40 this season.

Fremantle — Brandon Walker

Fremantle is a side that is bursting with talent across the field, but one area where the Dockers could use a breakthrough player is in defence.

Enter Brandon Walker, who has had such a good pre-season that he's left two-time All-Australian teammate Luke Ryan currently on the outside looking in.

Walker's not an unknown commodity; he's been around the block for a while now and has played 66 games in five seasons.

After playing just two last year, a solid build-up has Walker ready to become the type of lockdown defender that could have him in All-Australian conversations by the end of this season.

Geelong — Lawson Humphries

If you've watched Geelong closely over the past couple of years, Humphries is not an unknown commodity at all.

The 23-year-old is the classic player Geelong picks out of absolute obscurity before turning them into an All-Australian.

Humphries has shown maturity beyond his years through his first couple of seasons and should be ripe to make another jump this season into becoming a fringe All-Australian.

He was one of Geelong's best players in a forgettable grand final loss to Brisbane last year, racking up 23 touches and seven marks.

Gold Coast — Bailey Humphrey

Humphrey's stock soared during last year's trade period when he met with a Melbourne delegation in a bid to leave the Suns.

The Suns rightfully held onto him, and with good reason, given he's considered to be one of the biggest breakout candidates in the league this season.

It'll be interesting to see how the arrival of Christian Petracca alters things for Humphrey, who has shown an ability to toggle in and out of the midfield.

Nevertheless, after averaging 15.4 touches and kicking 22 goals in 23 appearances last year, don't be surprised if both of those numbers skyrocket for Humphrey this year.

GWS Giants — Aaron Cadman

Cadman has made solid year-on-year progress since being drafted first overall by the Giants in 2022.

The 21-year-old enjoyed his best season as a pro last year, kicking a career-high 44 goals in 24 appearances.

Jesse Hogan has been the undisputed top dog in the GWS forward line for the last few seasons, but don't be surprised to see the baton being passed to Cadman this year.

If that exchange does indeed happen, Cadman could fire himself into Coleman Medal contention with a massive bag of goals in 2026.

Hawthorn — Josh Ward

Having not gotten Zach Merrett across the line and seeing Will Day injured again, Hawthorn desperately needs someone from its midfield to pop.

Ward has shown plenty of glimpses over his first four seasons without putting it all together with any sort of consistency.

His finals last year — where he followed up a 31-disposal semifinal against the Crows with eight touches against the Cats in the prelim — was Ward in a nutshell.

Nevertheless, the 22-year-old has shown a knack for finding the footy at will, and the Hawks will be looking to him to hold down the fort until Day returns during the year.

Melbourne — Harvey Langford

The departures of Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver leave Melbourne crying out for someone to hoover up some extra midfield minutes, and Langford could be the guy for the job.

He enjoyed a fine debut season last year and was one of the shining lights in a pretty miserable year overall for the Demons, averaging 17.9 touches per game in 22 appearances.

The 19-year-old had a few games last year where you could see what he could turn into over the next few years — an extremely damaging full-time midfielder with a highly penetrative left boot.

With Melbourne effectively shutting its premiership window by moving off Petracca and Oliver, Langford is one of the centrepieces of the club's next generation of contention.

North Melbourne — Colby McKercher

You can argue McKercher might already have broken through, given he averaged a hair under 24 touches a game last year.

He has shown he can pick up lots of the footy across halfback from the moment he stepped into the AFL, but this year is the test of whether he can turn those possessions into truly damaging ones.

Harry Sheezel is the star of the North show, but desperately needs someone else on his team to come along for the ride, and the Roos will hope McKercher is ready to take that jump.

The Roos have spent far too long languishing in purgatory, and this one-two midfield punch will be crucial to helping them back among the contenders.

Port Adelaide — Jase Burgoyne

Everything about Burgoyne's game screams a star waiting to happen, and it makes sense given his pedigree.

The 22-year-old is coming into his fifth AFL season now and has spent the last two becoming a consistent part of Port Adelaide's first-choice side.

Much like his famous father and uncle, Burgoyne is silky smooth with the football and has the ability to slice up teams if he is given time and space.

Like many a young player, consistent ball-winning and impact on games are where Burgoyne is still growing, but he's not far away from putting it all together and becoming the finished article.

Richmond — Josh Gibcus

Gibcus is the forgotten member of Richmond's youth movement, having endured a wretched run of injuries over the last few years.

After playing 18 games as a rookie in 2022, where he showed himself to be one of the best defenders in the class, Gibcus has managed just three games over the next three seasons.

The good news for Richmond is Gibcus has enjoyed a strong pre-season and looks set for a relatively uninterrupted year.

Still just 22 years old, if Gibcus's body can cooperate, he could be one of Richmond's breakout stars of this campaign.

St Kilda — Mattaes Phillipou

Phillipou is in desperate need of a redemption season after taking a major step back in 2025.

The 21-year-old admitted a lot of his injury issues last season were self-inflicted due to a lack of diligent preparation on the track, and on a Saints team projected to be much, much better, a similar attitude won't be tolerated.

Nevertheless, Phillipou is exactly the type of player that plays poorly on a middling team and raises his level when his team plays well and plays in more important games.

If the Saints are to become a legitimate finals contender this year, don't be surprised if Phillipou is in there swinging games in some really big moments.

Sydney — Jai Serong

Serong screams the type of player who breaks out at his second home after struggling to break into a good side.

The 22-year-old was one of the most dominant defenders in the VFL as he struggled to break into Hawthorn's strong back six and has joined the Swans seeking more opportunities.

He's spent the entire off-season going one-on-one with Charlie Curnow on the training track, and that trial by fire will have him ready to mark some of the league's most dangerous forwards.

The Swans have been in desperate need of some youth and athleticism at either end of the ground, and Serong should be able to deliver that in spades in defence.

West Coast — Tom McCarthy

When you're at the bottom of the ladder, you need a few home runs to get yourself out of the hole, and McCarthy has proved to be exactly that.

The Eagles took McCarthy at the top of last year's mid-season draft, and he provided an instant spark, picking up 31 disposals on his AFL debut.

McCarthy ended last season playing 10 games and showed he is able to find the football at will, and will be one of a number of Eagles who roll through the midfield this season.

It projects to be a stronger midfield with the likes of Elliot Yeo healthy and Harley Reid looking in terrific shape, and a strong midfield will help the Eagles surprise a few opponents this season.

Western Bulldogs — Joel Freijah

Freijah was one of the big surprise packets for the Dogs in 2025, putting up career-high numbers in increased midfield time.

He has only just turned 20 and will be lent on to provide more grunt through the middle with the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore and Adam Treloar all on the wrong side of 30.

Bontempelli's centre bounce time dropped last year as the Dogs used him more as a weapon forward off the ball, and if that trend continues, Freijah, along with Ed Richards, will be there to pick up the slack.

In addition to his 19 disposals per game, Freijah also showed an ability to hit the scoreboard, kicking 18 goals, and the Dogs will be looking for an uptick in both those departments.

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