Will Aaron Rodgers Add Another Award To His Resume?
NFL Comeback Player of the Year Odds: Tight Race Between Returning Quarterbacks
Last season, most bettors expected Damar Hamlin to win the Comeback Player of the Year Award. After all, he came back to life after dying on the football field after a freak accident. He didn’t play a super important role for the Bills last season and missed countless games as a healthy scratch. But seeing him back on the field was good enough.
Many bettors put their hard-earned money on Hamlin to win the Comeback NFL Player of the Year Award.
It seemed like no one could beat his story.
Then Joe Flacco came into the picture.
Flacco wasn’t even signed to a roster when the season began. But when Deshaun Watson went down with an injury, and the Browns couldn’t find success from their depth at the position, Cleveland made a call to bring in the veteran.
The grizzled veteran put together an incredible run at the start of December and played well enough to push the Browns into the playoffs. Therefore, when the Comeback Player of the Year Award was announced, Flacco stole the Award from Hamlin.
A story like that likely won’t happen this time around.
Let’s look at the NFL Comeback Player of the Year odds for this year’s season.
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Aaron Rodgers (+125)
Aaron Rodgers has won multiple MVPs and is even a Super Bowl champion. But eventually, the Green Bay Packers decided to move on from the aging MVP and give Jordan Love a chance at quarterback.
The Packers swapped Rodgers for multiple draft picks and look to have won the trade.
Love is now the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, and Rodgers hasn’t played in one full series for the Jets since his gruesome Achilles injury on opening night last season.
Rodgers still believes he has a lot to prove. If he can help the Jets become relevant, he’ll become a hero.
If Rodgers stays healthy for the entire season and puts up MVP-like numbers, it’s hard to imagine Rodgers would lose out on the Comeback Player of the Year Award.
After this NFL injury, he could have easily retired and hung up the cleats. Instead, he wants to prove doubters wrong and himself capable.
With Rodgers back under center, the odds to win the Super Bowl have increased for the Jets this season.
- This is why Rodgers is the favorite to win the award at +125.
aaron rodgers. https://t.co/1nGaFm3TQ7 pic.twitter.com/qEPmrHCotu
— s̷̷̷ 👑 (@ShrekAsMe) August 7, 2024
Joe Burrow (+300)
A healthy Joe Burrow is as elite as it gets.
In two seasons when Burrow played 16 games, he surpassed 4,450 yards passing and accumulated at least 34 passing touchdowns each season.
Last year, he began the season with a lower-body injury and then concluded the season with a bad wrist injury. Burrow played in just 10 games as his Bengals missed the playoffs.
Burrow has some value at +300 odds. While he hasn’t won the Super Bowl or won an MVP like Rodgers, he’s been to the Super Bowl and is much younger with more upside.
That’s why you’d be wise to select Burrow when looking at the NFL Comeback Player of the Year odds.
Kirk Cousins (+500)
Kirk Cousins tore his right Achilles tendon with the Minnesota Vikings last season. When the Vikings lost Cousins, they lost the season. They couldn’t find anyone to match Cousins’s production.
- However, at the end of the season, the Vikings decided to move on from Cousins. They brought in Sam Darnold and drafted J.J. McCarthy, allowing Cousins to go to Atlanta.
The Falcons did him dirty by selecting Michael Penix Jr. as the quarterback behind him. So now there’s pressure on Cousins, who is already coming off an injury. Ultimately, Cousins has a lot of weapons in Atlanta.
If he puts up quality stats with the Falcons this season, coming off an injury, he’ll be viewed as one of the best quarterbacks in the game.
With a healthy Cousins, don’t be afraid to add the Falcons to your NFL spreads week-to-week. The Falcons are going to be good.
Anthony Richardson (+600)
Many analysts had Anthony Richardson as a bust before last year’s season even began. However, Richardson proved many doubters wrong in his rookie season.
He only played in four games before injuring his shoulder, but he added three passing TDs and four rushing in four games.
He was a fun, mobile quarterback who looked like a better passer than many expected.
But unless Richardson puts up MVP-like numbers, I don’t see a former rookie taking this award for good play a year later. He’d also need to get the Colts into NFL playoff scenarios.
Sam Darnold (+2500)
- Sam Darnold wasn’t hurt last year. So, he’s an outlier compared to the players mentioned above.
That said, Darnold was drafted by the New York Jets and never put together elite seasons in New York.
After three seasons of mediocracy, New York moved on, and Darnold went to Carolina. Again, he couldn’t win the starting job, so he left for San Francisco to be the backup.
There, he never got an opportunity to be the starter after his first three seasons with the Jets.
So now he’s in Minnesota as the No. 1 quarterback. Justin Jefferson is catching passes, and he’s in an offense that made Kirk Cousins look like a top-ten quarterback. Darnold can do the same.
He doesn’t have a sob story or injury history. He just needs another chance.
This could be another Geno Smith-like story, where he dominates away from the Jets once given an opportunity.
He’s our sleeper pick when looking at the NFL Comeback Player of the Year odds.
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