Carson Wentz and Sam Darnold Have Opportunities for Career Resurgence
The NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year isn’t exclusive to players who missed a majority of the season before. The qualifications also extend to those who simply had a bad season the year prior.
Because of the expanded qualifications, Carson Wentz and Sam Darnold are in the running for the award. Based on their odds, both are good dark horse picks to win it.
Both Wentz and Darnold are coming off terrible seasons. Wentz only played in 12 games and still led the league in interceptions with 15. Wentz was eventually benched in favor of Jalen Hurts and was traded to the Indianapolis Colts this offseason.
Darnold spent his third season with the New York Jets, and the NFL should truly make every player on that roster eligible for the award. Darnold threw more interceptions than touchdowns and had a career-low in passing yards.
Now both of them are in new situations hoping they can revive their careers.
WynnBET has Wentz’s odds for the award set at +1000 and Darnold’s odds set at +1700. While neither of them are in the top five, the fact they’re quarterbacks automatically raised their floor.
Currently, Dak Prescott is the favorite to win at +185. After him, Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow and Christian McCaffrey are tied for second at +650.
Wentz is back with Frank Reich, who was with the Eagles during Wentz’s near MVP season. He has all the tools of a competent team and his supporting cast is similar in structure to what the Philadelphia Eagles were in 2017.
Darnold is in the best situation of his career in Carolina. He has one of the best running backs in the league, a familiar receiver in Robby Anderson and a great offensive mind with Joe Brady as his offensive coordinator.
Both the Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers invested a lot of draft capital to acquire their quarterbacks. Wentz and Darnold are still young, so if it works out each team has a franchise quarterback moving forward.
They don’t have the best odds, but arguably have the most control over their situations. That makes them interesting picks to win CPOY.