The NFL season is rapidly approaching! There are plenty of ways to get in on the action before the season kicks off at DraftKings Sportsbook. The futures market is vast and full of bets available on all the league’s teams and stars.
While by its very nature the NFL Comeback Player of the Year is unpredictable to some degree, there are some players who have the inside track on the award since they are returning from injury and on track to make a significant impact. Here is a look at the 2026 NFL Comeback Player of the Year odds.
2026 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Odds
The NFL Comeback Player of the Year was first awarded from 1963-1966, and then it returned in 1998. Doug Flutie was the first player to earn the award in 1998, and QBs have won 18 of the 29 awards since 1998. In 2005, both Tedy Bruschi and Steve Smith Sr. earned the award, and last year, Christian McCaffrey snapped a string of seven straight QB winners. Only two players have won the award more than once: quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Chad Pennington.
Most of the time, it’s a player coming back from injury, although sometimes it is a player who overcame some other kind of adversity. The winners can sometimes come out of nowhere, but players who had serious injuries shorten their season last year are all over the top of the board coming into the year.
Comeback Player of the Year Contenders
The favorite to win the Comeback Player of the Year is two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes. It was a rough season last year for Mahomes, who was eliminated from making the postseason for the first time since he became the starter after losing in Week 15. To add injury to insult of missing the playoffs, Mahomes left with under two minutes left in the game with a torn ACL. After immediate surgery, he is fully cleared for Training Camp. While he isn’t certain yet to start in Week 1, the team is optimistic that he’ll be ready to come back, and that would make him a top contender for this award, especially as such a big name.
Jayden Daniels also has the kind of star power to dominate the narrative and win this award. He had an impressive rookie season, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2024, but last year, he missed 10 games and played through injury in three of the games he was on the field. The Commanders’ offense is dynamic and competitive with Daniels under center but takes a huge step backwards with Marcus Mariota running the show.
Longtime Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is trying to make a comeback with a new team in Minnesota, and he has the third-shortest odds. After Murray, we get to the first three non-QB options in the Comeback Player of the Year. Linebacker Micah Parsons of the Packers, wide receiver Malik Nabers of the Giants, and tight end George Kittle of the 49ers are each coming back from injury, and they’ll look to return to their superstar status in 2026. Parsons will be starting his first full Training Camp with Green Bay, while Nabers will be starting his first full year with Jaxson Dart as his starting QB.
Nabers’ teammate Cam Skatteboo is just outside the top 10 in the Comeback Player of the Year odds, and I hope he does a backflip on stage to celebrate if he wins the award. Another few interesting names are at 40:1, including the Falcons’ two quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr., along with speedy big-play receiver Tank Dell, who will be looking to return to the Texans’ offense.
The only previous Comeback Player of the Year winner who has odds to start the season is Geno Smith, who won the award in 2022 with the Seahawks. This year, he’ll try to win the award again as he returns to the Jets, where he started his career.
