Candidates for 2016 Biggest Breakout Sports Star

2016 was a banner year for multiple individuals across a variety of sports.

Cris "Cyborg" Justino has been involved in mixed martial arts for years, but she is quickly becoming a breakout star in the Ultimate Fighting Championship all because of a supposed dream match that may never take place. Matt Murray made the best of a bad situation while filling in at goaltender for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Murray may soon claim that position as his own. Daniel Murphy went from being a castoff of the New York Mets to a legitimate Most Valuable Player candidate with the Washington Nationals.

Things often change quickly in the world of sports.

All of the athletes mentioned in this piece put together impressive performances that increased their values to organizations, and all deserve to be candidates for top breakout sports star of the year. Some athletes may fade from memories as quickly as they ascended to figurative mountaintops, while 2016 may prove to be launching points for others.

Who, among these candidates, do you believe will be the biggest sports superstar by 2020?

Honorable Mentions

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Several National Football League personalities deserve shoutouts as potential candidates for biggest breakout sports stars of 2016.

Rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott helped the Dallas Cowboys win five of their first six games. Prescott seems to be Dallas' starting quarterback of the future regardless of the status of Tony Romo, and Elliott leads the NFL in rushing yards after Week 7.

Cleveland Browns QB Cody Kessler has also impressed while filling in for Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown, so much so that Kessler should be Cleveland's starter moving forward through the end of the campaign so long as he is healthy.

The biggest reason these and other would-be candidates are only honorable mentions is because the NFL season is not yet halfway over. It is, thus, too early to compare them with the other 10 athletes mentioned in this piece.

Rick Porcello

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Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello is similar to Murphy of the Washington Nationals in that neither man was seen as a dominant force at the start of the 2016 season. Porcello, per Baseball-Reference.com, never won more than 15 games in a single campaign. He went 9-15 in 2015, failing to live up to expectations had by some Boston fans.

Porcello, who turns 28 years old in December, didn't disappoint this time around. In fact, he may have been the best pitcher in all of baseball during the regular season.

Porcello won 22 games, more than any other pitcher, in 2016. As Sean Penney of Boston Injection explained, the last time any pitcher won more than 22 games during a campaign was back in 2011. Porcello pitched 223 innings, making him one of the top workhorses in the sport. His 1.01 WHIP ranked fourth among starters.

No pitcher, not even Cleveland Indians reliever Andrew Miller, had a better breakout year than Porcello.

C.J. McCollum

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Back in July 2015, ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton gave reasons for why Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum would have a breakout season in 2015-16. That was a bold prediction considering McCollum's previous two seasons in the NBA. Per Basketball-Reference.com, McCollum made only three total starts from 2013 through the end of the 2014-15 campaign. The guard shined in the spring of 2015, though, to the point Pelton expected McCollum to hold that form through the 2015-16 season.

McCollum met and maybe even exceeded expectations. He averaged 20.8 points during the best season, to date, of his career, and he converted roughly 42 percent of his three-point attempts. One of his best nights of 2016 occurred in April, as Mike Richman of the Oregonian explained, when he went a perfect 6-of-6 from beyond the arc in a Portland win over the Miami Heat.

Carson Brown of blog Rip City Project recently touched upon how McCollum can build on his banner year by doing better to spread the ball around to teammates during possessions. Assuming McCollum's form doesn't vanish overnight this fall, the 25-year-old could prove to be the top NBA breakout star of 2016.

Evgeny Kuznetsov

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All things considered, Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov may be the NHL's top breakout star of the past year. Casual fans may have missed much of Kuznetsov's production, however, for a variety of reasons.

Kuznetsov features on the same roster as Alex Ovechkin, one of the most recognized stars in the sport. Ovechkin pursuing a Stanley Cup will generate headlines each spring until he finally achieves that goal or steps away from the league. If that weren't enough to overshadow Kuznetsov's stellar year, the Pittsburgh Penguins' young goalie, Murray, went from an American Hockey League star to a starter for the team who won the Stanley Cup in the span of a few months at the age of 22.

As a piece on NHL.com explained, Kuznetsov led the Caps in assists (57), points (77) and plus-minus (plus-27) last season. Those who only become passionate about the NHL once the playoffs begin probably weren't all that impressed with Kuznetsov, though, as he failed to establish himself as a top offensive weapon against both the Philadelphia Flyers and Penguins.

He accumulated a paltry one goal and one assist in 12 postseason games this past spring.

The 2016-17 NHL season began earlier this month, and Kuznetsov is already in danger of again being overshadowed by other players. The Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid became the youngest captain in NHL history at the age o 19, and Auston Matthews produced a historic debut. Kuznetsov will need to find his form from before the playoffs if he is to emerge as the year's top hockey breakout star.

Cris Cyborg

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Justino is no newcomer to the world of mixed martial arts. Cyborg first burst into the international scene fighting in Strikeforce near the end of last decade, and she has won championships in multiple promotions and competitions.

With that said, Cyborg's star has never been brighter than it is this fall.

Cyborg debuted in the UFC earlier this year, when she easily defeated Leslie Smith at UFC 198, and she earned her second victory as a member of the promotion this past September. Cyborg has since been featured on national sports talk shows and also had her name in headlines all because of a potential future superfight involving her taking on Ronda Rousey.

There is currently no guarantee that bout will ever occur. Rousey is returning to the UFC in an attempt to reclaim her bantamweight title in December, and Cyborg has not yet fought at 135 pounds in the promotion. While Rousey and Cyborg could meet for a catchweight fight, there's currently no date for that contest.

Expect Cyborg's aura and fame to only rise leading up to her next bout, regardless of if she fights Rousey, Miesha Tate or somebody else. 2016 was truly a breakout year for the 31-year-old.

Jose Ramirez

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The thought that Cleveland Indians infielder and utility player Jose Ramirez was the team's MVP for 2016 season, an idea floated out there by Jeff Schrudel of the Morning Journal and by other Cleveland media members, seems somewhat silly, at first. Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis, Carlos Santana and Corey Kluber all produced stellar numbers and impressive seasons. It is, thus, easy to take Ramirez's numbers for granted.

Per Baseball-Reference.com, Ramirez hit .312 during his breakout season. He blasted 11 home runs, drove home 76 runs and finished the campaign with an OPS of .825. Those were all career highs for the 24-year-old since he became a full-time member of the Indians back in 2014.

Schrudel provided additional reasons for Ramirez's candidacy:

"

Ramirez has been Mr. Clutch for Terry Francona’s team. He benefits from hitting fifth in the lineup with Santana, Kipnis, Lindor and Napoli in front of him, but he earned that spot. He batted .355 (50 for 141) with runners in scoring position. He was 26 of 71 (.362) when runners are in scoring position with two out. He reached base safely in 56 of his past 63 games.

"

Ramirez went cold at the plate during the American League Championship Series, but he could bolster his cause to win biggest breakout sports star of 2016 with a handful of solid performances during the World Series.

Kristaps Porzingis

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Casual fans knew little about Kristaps Porzingis when the New York Knicks drafted the big man in 2015. They were aware Porzingis made his name playing overseas, and they knew he was over 7 feet tall. It, thus, wasn't all that surprising some Knicks fans attending the draft booed upon hearing New York selected Porzingis over a recognizable college talent.

Porzingis quickly turned those boos into cheers. He impressed with his abilities on both sides of the court, and he made over 33 percent of his three-point attempts during the regular season, per Basketball-Reference.com. While Porzingis lost out on Rookie of the Year honors, he finished the campaign averaging 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest.

As Frank Isola of the New York Daily News explained, Porzingis seemed to battle through fatigue and expected setbacks that could confront any rookie during his first year in the NBA. That did not, however, prevent Porzingis from posting 29 points, which matched a career high, against the Chicago Bulls during a game in late March.

Porzingis' campaign ended early because of a shoulder strain, but there's no reason to believe he will be slowed by any physical setbacks this fall.

Matt Murray

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Murray was never supposed to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins on a long-term basis earlier this year. Multiple injury woes forced Pittsburgh's hand as the club climbed up the standings and earned a playoff spot, and the Pens had little choice but to start the young shot-stopper who turned 22 years old in May.

Murray proved to be a revelation.

Minus one game in which Marc Andre-Fleury replaced him, Murray excelled and starred throughout the postseason. Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com), Murray finished the spring with a postseason record of 15-6. He had a 2.08 goals-against average and .923 save percentage during the playoffs.

The Penguins recently awarded Murray with a three-year contract. It's now, seemingly, only a matter of time before Murray replaces Fleury on a full-time basis.

The sports fates can be generous and cruel at the same time. Those cosmic beings frowned upon Fleury during Pittsburgh's latest title run that ended with captain Sidney Crosby hoisting the Stanley Cup, but they smiled upon Murray and the Penguins.

Jamie Vardy

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Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy can now be mentioned alongside names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Lionel Messi and others who are nominated to win the 2016 Ballon d'Or. It's only fitting considering all Vardy achieved beginning last fall.

Per BBC Sport, Vardy set records when he scored in 11 consecutive Premier League games and netted 13 total tallies during that span. It was an incredible run that helped propel Leicester to the top of the Premier League table, but Vardy wasn't done following the fall months. He scored 24 goals, in total, last season, and he helped the Foxes win a historic league title.

Vardy also became a mainstay of the England national team over the past year, and he came off the bench and scored for his country during a Euro 2016 showdown with Wales.

Vardy's story is downright remarkable, as he went from featuring against semiprofessional clubs to starring for the best team in England and the national squad. He serves as an inspiration for anybody out there chasing a dream.

Stipe Miocic

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Stipe Miocic was not a household name at the start of 2016. Miocic, quite frankly, was merely one of several anonymous heavyweights listed in the UFC rankings as of January 1. That all changed this past May, however, when Miocic defeated Fabricio Werdum to win the heavyweight championship in Brazil.

Almost overnight, the product of northeast Ohio became a sports sensation in the eyes of Cleveland fans happy to celebrate a professional sports title. Miocic was even a featured guest during the parade celebrating the Cleveland Cavaliers defeating the Golden State Warriors and winning the NBA championship.

The 34-year-old then proved his victory over Werdum wasn't a one-off in September, when he beat Alistair Overeem via knockout in front of local fans at the Quicken Loans Arena. Miocic is now a victory away from tying the record for most consecutive successful defenses of the UFC heavyweight title.

He may prove himself to be the promotion's greatest-ever heavyweight in 2017.

Daniel Murphy

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The New York Mets elected to not sign Murphy to a contract extension after the 2015 regular season. Per CBS New York, SNY commentator Gary Cohen referred to Murphy as a "net negative" when discussing the matter last October on Joe & Evan.

Those words came back to haunt Cohen and the Mets in 2016.

Murphy posted the best regular season of his career after signing with the Washington Nationals, a division rivals of the Mets. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the slugger, who had a tremendous postseason for the Mets in October 2015, hit .347, second-highest in Major League Baseball for the campaign. He blasted 25 home runs, he drove home 104 RBI and finished the season with an OPS of .985.

All of those numbers are career highs for Murphy.

Murphy was a solid hitter throughout his tenure with the Mets, but there were legitimate reasons why the club didn't offer him a massive contract last year. The 31-year-old who earned "MVP!" chants from grateful Washington fans made his former employers regret that decision time and time again in 2016, and Murphy will have additional opportunities to burn the Mets up through 2018.