In each of the past six years, a quarterback has taken home the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award. Joe Flacco of the Cleveland Browns was the latest to do so in 2023 after the veteran went 4-1 with 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns down the stretch.
At BetMichigan.com, as part of our Michigan sportsbooks coverage, we wanted to know how often players representing different NFL positions win the Comeback Player of the Year Award. We turned to Pro-Football-Reference.com to find the average age of recipients and how often players representing each position have won the CPOY award from the Associated Press voters since 2000.
Comeback Player Of The Year Trends: Positions
Position | % of Wins |
QB | 64.0% |
WR | 12.0% |
DL | 8.0% |
TE | 4.0% |
LB | 4.0% |
DB | 4.0% |
RB | 4.0% |
Before Flacco, Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Alex Smith of the Washington Commanders and Ryan Tannehill of the Tennessee Titans took home the AP Comeback Player of the Year honor (the Pro Football Writers Association also has its own version; our numbers refer to the AP honor). That speaks to the QB-centric nature of awards in the 32-team league.
Sure enough, DraftKings Sportsbook Michigan lists New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers as the favorite to win this year’s Comeback POY at +140 odds as of Aug. 22, followed by fellow signal-callers Burrow (+300), Kirk Cousins (+500) and Anthony Richardson (+650)
In total, 64% of NFL Comeback Player of the Year winners since 2000 have been quarterbacks (there have been 25 winners in 24 years because the award was split once. That’s about five times as often as the next closest skill position, wide receivers, which have won 12%. Two defensive linemen (8%) have been selected.
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Four different position groups have won 4% of Comeback POY awards this century, or once each.
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Looking at the history books, the last non-QB to win the Comeback POY honor was Los Angeles Chargers wideout Keenan Allen in 2017. WR Jordy Nelson of the Green Bay Packers did the same the year before.
Other winners over the last decade include Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry in 2015 and New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (2014), rounding out the list of non-QB winners of the award over the years.
For more inspiring stories, see our story on NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year winners.
Comeback Player Of The Year Trends: Average Age
Average Age | 30 |
When it comes to age, the average winner of the NFL’s Comeback POY award has been 30 years old. Flacco was an outlier by winning in his age-38 season with the Browns.
Smith (32), Burrow (25), Smith (36), Tannehill (31) and Andrew Luck (29) ran the gamut when it came to their ages during their award-winning seasons. They helped to even out the league’s average age to 30 entering the 2024-25 league year.
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USA Today photo by Troy Taormina
