Five Comeback Player of the Year contenders in 2025

By Andy Davies

The Comeback Player of the Year award is a prestigious one to win. However, it also means that something bad has happened previously, whether this is due to injury or bad form.

The 2024 season winner was Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, but the fact that this is his second Comeback Player of the Year award in four seasons, is not a good indictment on the franchise, who only drafted him five years ago.

Despite this, there will be plenty of players who will be keen to scoop up the award. Here are five contenders for Comeback Player of the Year in 2025.

Dak Prescott (Quarterback – Dallas Cowboys)

In recent years, the Comeback Player of the Year has been a quarterback award. The last time a non-quarterback won the award was back in 2017 when Keenan Allen did so with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Being the highest paid quarterback in the NFL and playing for the Dallas Cowboys, this brings with it a lot of attention. With the amount of primetime game that the Cowboys are afford, should Prescott have a good season then he is likely to get plenty of votes. The head coaching hire of Brian Schottenheimer does little to inspire, but with CeeDee Lamb to throw the ball to, Dak has the chance to put up some numbers and impress the voters.

Tua Tagovailoa (Quarterback - Miami Dolphins)

Another quarterback that could be in the frame to win the award is Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

After surviving injury in 2023, Tua once again struggled to stay on the field, with another concussion suffered in Week Two against the Buffalo Bills. He then saw time off the field thanks to a hip injury suffered in Week 16, that forced him to miss the final two weeks of the season as the Dolphins narrowly missed a playoff berth.

Whilst the jury is out on whether Tua is the guy to win the Dolphins a Super Bowl, but it was clear to see the difference in results when he was off the field compared to when he was on it.

In 2023, Tua was the passing yards leader, and the supporting cast has not changed an awful lot since then. If anything, it has gotten better. Back then, he had Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but that was it. Now, he has a tight end in Jonnu Smith who excelled in the second half of the 2024 season, as a third option. The team have also added Nick Westbrook-Ikhene to the ranks as a WR4, someone who has always been an underrated wide receiver.

Stats often grab the attention when it comes to the voting and provided everyone stays healthy, then Tua is likely to be a contender for the award.

Aidan Hutchinson (Defensive End - Detroit Lions)

On track for the Defensive Player of the Year award last season, Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson’s 2024 campaign was cut short, after fracturing his tibia and fibula in a Week Six victory against the Dallas Cowboys.

Had he been there for the entire season, with the Lions achieving the number one seed after a 15-2 record, he would have all but certainly beaten eventual winner Pat Surtain to the honour. The fact they had just two losses without him shows the ability of this team. Injuries saw the unit decline as the 2024 campaign went on, so the return of Hutchinson will be a welcome one. Losing defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn may have implications on the defensive side of the ball, but the talent is still there to make this Lions defense a fearsome one.

Being a player not on the offensive side of the ball, you are always at a disadvantage when it comes to the voting process. After all, no defensive player has won the award since safety Eric Berry did so for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2015. Furthermore, no defensive end has won it since Greg Ellis for the Dallas Cowboys in 2007.

If anyone is to break the streak, Hutchinson is the guy to do it.

Christian McCaffrey (Running Back - San Francisco 49ers)

It has been an even longer wait for a running back to win the award, dating back to 2001 when the San Francisco 49ers’ Garrison Hearst received the honour. Now, their current RB1 has a chance to win it for the 2025 season.

What a difference a year makes. It is only twelve months ago, that the Niners were fresh off a Super Bowl loss and Christian McCaffrey winning the Offensive Player of the Year award. Injury issues restricted him to just four games in 2024, where he recorded less than 400 total yards and zero touchdowns. In the past week, the Niners have now allowed many players to leave, including wide receiver Deebo Samuel. This will further highlight the impact CMC has on the offense and with Kyle Shanahan as head coach, McCaffrey has the ability to have a bounce back year and immerse himself into a contender for the award.

Nick Chubb (Running Back – Free Agent)

Finally, another running back who could be a contender for the award is running back Nick Chubb. Who he plays for in 2025 is anyone’s guess, with no news on his future with Free Agency underway.

Drafted 35^th overall by the Cleveland Browns in 2018, Chubb has had a stellar career, with 6,341 rushing yards and 48 rushing touchdowns in his first five seasons. However, a devastating MCL and ACL injury in their Week Two game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023 means that he has only played ten games across the last two years.

Chubb appears a running back that may never recover from injury, but so did Saquon Barkley and McCaffrey and they have since gone on to return to form. He has needed time to recover from the ACL and MCL injuries and this could be the year where he would return to prominence.

He would need to go to a team where he is not the bell cow if he wants to return to form, something that Barkley and McCaffrey did when they left the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants, respectively. Doing so would allow him more rest time between snaps and therefore more of a chance to put up significant numbers.

With the brutality of the injury, one that was deemed too gruesome to be shown on the television instant replay, a Chubb resurgence would be a great story for the league. This would grab the attention for those voting, making him a top contender for Comeback Player of the Year.

ANDY IS A SPORTS JOURNALISM GRADUATE WITH OVER FOUR YEARS EXPERIENCE OF NFL WRITING AND PODCASTING. ANDY HAS BEEN TO EVERY NFL STADIUM AND IS THE HOST OF THE ACROSS THE POD PODCAST. HE HAS PRESS PASS EXPERIENCE AT THE LONDON GAMES AND MANY OTHER NFL BASED EVENTS SUCH AS THE SUPER BOWL, HAVING INTERVIEWED THE LIKES OF AARON RODGERS, JASON BELL, OSI UMENYIORA, PATRICK MAHOMES, TRAVIS KELCE, DERRICK HENRY, SAQUON BARKLEY AND JALEN HURTS.