2019 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Betting Odds and Pick

The NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year is an annual award given by the Associated Press to a player in the NFL who has overcome adversity from the previous season and played at a high level during the current year.

The first award was given in 1963 and since 2011 the award has been presented at the NFL Honors Ceremony held on the day before the Super Bowl. The AP handed awards from 1963-1966 but did not hand it out again until 1998 when it became a yearly award. The only player in NFL history to win the award twice was Chad Pennington who won in 2006 with the New York Jets and in 2008 with the Miami Dolphins.

Last year, Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck won the award. Luck missed the entire 2017 season while recovering from shoulder surgery. He returned in 2018 and turned in his best year to date with 4,593 passing yards and 39 touchdowns with only 15 interceptions for a 98.7 passer rating.

For the 2019-20 NFL season, a handful of big names are listed as favorites to win the award. Leading the way is San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garropolo who is the betting favorite in the latest odds board.

Here are the NFL betting odds to be named as the NFL’s 2020 Comeback Player of the Year. These odds were taken from MyBookie.ag as of 8/15/19:

Who Are The Favorites?

Jimmy Garoppolo is the favorite to win this award. Jimmy G. suffered an ACL injury in week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Garoppolo was considered as the 49ers savior after he led the team to five wins in six games during the 2017 season. Garoppolo showed tremendous potential as the Niners’ starter after backing up the great Tom Brady for three seasons in New England.

San Francisco finished the previous season at 4-12 and with that, they have nowhere to go but up. That’s the reason why Jimmy G. is on top of this list. But unless San Francisco makes the playoffs, I’m not sure if I like Jimmy G. and his betting value here.

Le’Veon Bell is next on the list and no question, the guy has the tremendous talent to win this award. But when you take a look at history, no running back has ever won the Comeback Player of the Year award. I’m not sure why but let me just say that running backs are more prone to injuries because of their roles in the football field. That said, I won’t bet my money of Bell or Devonta Freeman because that would be betting against a lot of history.

Who Wins 2020 Comeback Player of the Year?

Jimmy G. is the favorite here and Le’Veon Bell is a solid pick as well. But when you take a look at their teams, Garoppolo plays for the San Francisco 49ers while Le’Veon Bell plays for the New York Jets. The 49ers have missed the playoffs since 2013 while the Jets have not played in the postseason since 2010.

The reason I brought that up is that if we take a look at the Comeback Player of the Year winners since 2010, there are two common denominators: One, the player successfully returned from injury and two, his team made the playoffs. I’m not saying this is absolute but the eight-year trend is telling.

That is why I like Cooper Kupp at +1600 because the wide receiver plays for the Los Angeles Rams who are one of the favorites to win it all this year. Kupp is no pushover either. He had six touchdown catches and over 500 receiving yards in only eight games played before he tore his ACL in week 10.

The word from the Rams’ camp is that Kupp looks fully healthy and doing well so if that is correct and if the Rams can continue their dominance next season, Kupp will not only put up good numbers this year but should be a favorite to win Comeback Player of the  Year. That said, I’m picking Cooper Kupp to win this award. Prediction: Cooper Kupp

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