For gamblers, fans, and especially voters alike, one of the more puzzling awards the NFL hands out every season is Comeback Player of the Year. Specifically, it’s been unclear — up until recently — who exactly this award is supposed to be aimed at. Most would look at it as it’s for a player who has worked his way back from injury like Joe Burrow did when he won in 2021 following his ACL tear.
However, in recent years, the award has morphed into adding in players who have merely rallied back from down periods of poor play during their careers, like Geno Smith in 2022 and Joe Flacco last year. This has led the Associated Press, who hands out the award, to recently send out some clarification to voters. They say that the award “is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury, or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.”
Translation: They want voters to steer away from rewarding players who come back from simply stinking up the joint on the field and focus more on players who rallied back from injury (ex. Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who was among the favorites last year).
With this clarification in mind, let’s take a look at this year’s odds for Comeback Player of the Year. First, we’ll eliminate some players that fall under the previous interpretation. Then, we’ll highlight some best bets.
All NFL odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Players who may no longer qualify
If we’re now looking at this through the lens of this clarification from the AP, we can actually eliminate a handful of players who are merely looking to have a career resurgence but have no injury-related backstory.
In particular, we can look at both quarterbacks for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Wilson currently owns the fifth-best odds to win Comeback Player of the Year at +1200. But…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-comeback-player-of-the-year-best-bets-identifying-top-options-amid-new-criteria/
Author : Tyler Sullivan
Publish date : 2024-06-19 17:46:16
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