Identifying breakout players is nearly impossible in the NFL. For your own team, every former sixth round pick who flashed in week 11 last year deserves an upgrade in Madden; meanwhile, your rivals' first-round picks who have dealt with injuries for a couple years are clearly busts. Let's make a good faith effort to talk about which players are breakout candidates for the three inferior NFC North teams. 

Lions

Jameson Williams is the obvious answer here. Williams was such an elite athlete and player at Alabama that the Lions took him 12th overall despite a torn ACL and no one thought it was a reach. He's probably taken a little longer than expected to come back from that injury and hasn't really had the impact you want out of a 12th overall pick. If he's going to make the leap, it needs to happen this year. 

The under the radar candidate who could really change things up for this team is Marcus Davenport. Davenport was the edge who the Saints traded two firsts (one of which became Jaire Alexander) with the Packers to move up. He had some good years in New Orleans but never quite reached his potential. Now he's on a team with plenty of space eaters in the middle and an opposite side edge who will demand double teams. Davenport has the athletics ability and experience to be one of the most impactful second edges in the NFL, let's see if he can finally pull it off. 

Bears

Jaylon Johnson was the guy last year. The corner back averaged a PFF grade around 60 his first three seasons before bursting through to an over 90 grade last season. It may be more important for the Bears for Johnson to continue his current level of play than for anyone else to break through. Going from a middle of the pack corner to the best in the NFL in a contract year is more than a little suspicious. 

That said, the Bears' defense does have a few other candidates. Gervon Dexter was horrific in his rookie year but profiled as a perfect 3-tech for Matt Eberflus's defense. Kyler Gordon was drafted to be the team's feisty slot corner and finally looked good doing it at least part of the time last year. Jack Sanborn looked like he could be one of the league's best run stuffers and blitzers in base defense. 

Vikings

The Vikings better hope that Jordan Addison is a breakout candidate. The very small first-round receiver looked good at times last year and then would have games where he didn't look like he would rack the Packers' top-7 receivers. Addison played like the best receiver in college football at Pitt with Kenny Pickett, then went to USC and regressed and now under performed in his rookie year. Obviously, Addison has plenty of potential still - he wouldn't have been taken in the first round if he didn't, but this is another case where the team needs to start getting a little nervous if he doesn't breakout this year. 

On the defensive side, Cam Bynum improved a lot in his first year with Brian Flores and could be ready to take the next step right as Harrison Smith puts in an order for a walker. Bynum's was PFF's fourth-ranked safety through 14 weeks last year before falling off a cliff. It's no coincidence that the Vikings' defense as a hole fell off one at the same time. The next step for him and for the Vikings is consistency.