# The second-year players that are X-factors in 2026

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-athletic-football-show-a-show-about-the-nfl-1365826/the-second-year-players-that-are-x-factors-in-2026
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-athletic-football-show-a-show-about-the-nfl-1365826/the-second-year-players-that-are-x-factors-in-2026.md
Podcast: [The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-athletic-football-show-a-show-about-the-nfl-1365826)
Published: 2026-07-29T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/the-athletic-football-show-a-show-about-the-nfl/episodes/which-second-year-player-will-become-an-x-factor-in-2026
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/681cc905bdc60241406b737f/e/6a6932a5c74daa1e60bdc0b6/media.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-athletic-football-show-a-show-about-the-nfl-1365826/episodes/the-second-year-players-that-are-x-factors-in-2026
Duration seconds: 3946

## Resource

We know it's not very humble to say, "I told you so." But...we told you so! At this time last year, we highlighted Cole Bishop and Kris Jenkins—among others—as potential X-factors. And for better or worse, both Bishop and Jenkins were X-factors during the 2025 season. So, we're running it back. Robert Mays, Dave Helman, and Derrik Klassen bring you 15 more players that are X-factors for their teams in 2026. 0:00 Welcome to the show 2:21 Vita Vea & Jalen Carter news 15:00 Jared Wilson 18:30 Will Campbell 21:21 Barrett Carter & Demetrius Knight 28:52 Anthony Belton 34:54 Terrance Ferguson 40:35 Matthew Golden 47:11 Travis Hunter 51:25 Tyleik Williams 55:05 Tate Ratledge 59:45 TJ Sanders 1:00:12 Pat Bryant 1:00:38 Lathan Ransom 1:02:50 Donovan Ezeiruaku 1:03:32 Several 49ers Join The Athletic Football Show Discord Server: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshow Host: Robert Mays Co-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman Executive Producer: Michael Beller Senior Producer: Katy Duffy Social Producer: Scott Krinch Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.social Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays Follow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_ Theme song: Haunted Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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