No, Sam Darnold can't win NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award

The first five weeks of the NFL season have brought several surprises - both good and bad - but the biggest of all has been the emergence of the Minnesota Vikings. At 5-0, the Vikings are not only sitting in first place in the NFC North, but they're the NFL's last undefeated team. A big reason for their high level of play thus far has been because of Sam Darnold.

Before the preseason began, it was unclear as to whether Darnold would actually begin the regular season as Minnesota's starter. He was signed to fill that void created by Kirk Cousins' departure, but Minnesota drafted J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick for a reason. McCarthy was seen as their future under center, but it wasn't out of the question that he'd start Week 1 of the regular season if he had a good preseason.

McCarthy wound up suffering a season-ending injury in his first preseason game, making Darnold the unquestioned starter. It's safe to say he has not looked back.

He has played so well, to the point where some NFL fans have been clamoring for him to be the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year Award winner by the time the season ends. The AP's guidance to voters for this award makes it so that Darnold will not win it.

Sam Darnold won't win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award, but has another award within reach

The reason Darnold won't win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award is quite simple, and is outlined by Rob Maaddi of AP.

"The spirit of the award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.”

For a player to win this award, he'd have to overcome a major illness, injury, or other circumstance that led him to miss substantial time the previous season. Darnold only started one game last season, but that's not because of any of the factors listed above.

Darnold isn't coming back from anything, he simply wasn't a productive enough NFL quarterback to warrant playing time. It's awesome to see that he's found a way to contribute and is having a career resurgence in Minnesota, but again, he isn't coming back from anything.

These guidelines were created after then-Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco won the award over Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

If this award was like the Most Improved Player award in the NBA, Darnold would be the runaway favorite for it. Since that is not what this is, the award winner will likely be a player like Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rodgers, who both recovered from major injuries.

While it's extremely unlikely that Darnold will win the Comeback Player of the Year Award, his high level of play has him squarely in the MVP conversation. He probably wouldn't be perceived as the favorite to win it right now, but if the Vikings continue to win and Darnold continues to play at a star level, he's going to remain in the race until the bitter end.