It wasn’t just Cincinnati Bengals fans who were heartbroken to see then-rookie quarterback Joe Burrow go down with an injury in Week 11 of the 2020 season. Burrow was injured when a defender hit him hard, forcing him to have surgery on his knee and taking him out of the final six games of the regular season.
Burrow is cleared to play in the season opener against the Vikings and there’s a lot of hype on the former number one overall pick out of LSU. After all, this is a guy who threw for over 5,600 yards, 60 touchdowns, and just six interceptions during LSU’s magical 2019 season that ended up the Tigers as the champions of college football.
Getting injured last year could hurt Burrow’s chances of putting up big numbers this year but Vegas says otherwise. According to WynnBet, Burrow has the second-best odds to be named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award.
Burrow has +550 odds to win Comeback Player of the Year and trails only Dak Prescott in the way-too-early race. Prescott, of course, was injured much earlier in 2020 than Burrow and was wheeling and dealing before the injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Joe Burrow has the second-best odds for Comeback Player of the Year.
It’s not shocking to see Prescott ahead of Burrow. First and foremost, he’s the more experienced player and threw for over 4,900 yards and 30 touchdowns the season prior. He was one of the few bright spots on the Cowboys’ roster before his injury and that’ll likely be the case again this year.
Another reason Prescott’s odds are so low is that he plays for the Cowboys. Like it or not, the Cowboys are dubbed “America’s Team” for a reason and it’s that no matter what kind of situation they’re in, they’re always being talked about, as annoying as it is.
Burrow, meanwhile, plays for the Bengals, who are arguably one of the least talked about teams. He’s made the team more relevant for sure but there’s no comparison as to who the NFL would give the award to between Prescott and Burrow if it came down to the two of them — They’d give it to the Dallas Cowboys quarterback in a heartbeat.
The players behind Prescott and Burrow are Saquon Barkley (+600), Christian McCaffrey (+650), and Nick Bosa (+750). It really does seem like it’ll be a two-horse race between Prescott and Burrow due to the position they play.