Dak Prescott’s return this year from the gruesome compound ankle fracture and dislocation he suffered in Week 5 of last season has been nothing short of remarkable.
His re-addition to the Dallas Cowboys has helped take them from 6-10 and a third place NFC East finish in 2020 to 11-5 and the division title this year. As a result, Prescott is the betting favorite to win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award at -135 odds on Tipico Sportsbook.
If Prescott were to win the award, he would be a deserving candidate. Through 15 games, he’s over 4,000 yards passing for just the second time in his career and he has a career-high 32 passing touchdowns and 68.4 completion percentage. He’s as good, if not better, than he was before the injury and his play has impacted team success.
However, that doesn’t mean Prescott is the most deserving candidate. Joe Burrow also suffered a catastrophic injury last season, tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee and suffering other structural issues on a hit in Week 10. And like Prescott, he’s bounced back to have an incredible season and lead his team to the playoffs.
Burrow’s odds for Comeback Player of the Year are second-shortest at +105, but he actually has a stronger case for the award than Prescott.
Stats
As good as Prescott’s aforementioned numbers are, Burrow’s are even better. The second-year phenom is better than Prescott in just about every category, with the only knock against him being his higher interception total. But when you factor in fumbles lost – two for Burrow and six for Prescott – the turnovers are even between the two. Even as Burrow has been sacked a league-high 51 times behind one of the NFL’s worse offensive lines.
| Player | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Rate | Int | Sk | Y/A | Rush TD |
| Burrow | 70.4 | 4611 | 34 | 108.3 | 14 | 51 | 8.9 | 2 |
| Prescott | 68.4 | 4154 | 32 | 100.9 | 10 | 29 | 7.3 | 1 |
Team success
The Cowboys have one more win than the Bengals at 11-5, but Prescott and Burrow have equally accounted for 10 wins since Prescott was out for the Cowboys’ victory over the Minnesota Vikings. And Burrow’s 10 wins are a lot more impressive than Prescott’s considering the state of these teams entering the season.
Not only were the Cowboys expected to at least be competitive within their division, they had the highest preseason win line of any team in the NFC East at 9.5. After Washington won what has been a bad division at just 7-9 last year, there wasn’t a clear-cut favorite entering this season. Dallas was as good a pick as any. Until last year, the Cowboys hadn’t finished a season under .500 since Prescott took over as starter in 2016.
Cincinnati, on the other hand, entered the season as the doormat of the AFC North – perennially one of the NFL’s toughest divisions. The Bengals hadn’t put together a winning record since 2015. Dallas had as many wins in 2020 as the Bengals did in 2019 and 2020 combined. Cincy entered the season with a 6.5 preseason win line and not only went over by several games, but somehow won the division for the first time since 2013.
Even in what turned out to be a down year for the AFC North, every team was still alive for the postseason through 16 weeks. Cincinnati’s division title is a lot more impressive than Dallas’.
Timeline
Both of these players suffered horrific injuries and worked incredibly hard to get back onto the field, so this comparison isn’t meant to minimize one or the other. But Prescott’s injury happened more than a month before Burrow’s, which obviously cut his season sooner but also meant he had a headstart on his reported four- to six-month timetable.
A story by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ben Baby at the time of Burrow’s injury said the timetable for his type of injury was typically nine- to 12 months. So, the fact he even completed rehab in time to start the opener is remarkable. Add to that the type of season Burrow is having, and the team success that has followed, and it’s hard to make a case against him for Comeback Player of the Year.
A visual of Prescott’s foot turned the wrong way will be forever etched in the minds of anyone who set eyes on the play he was injured. What he’s doing after suffering that injury should not be taken for granted. But neither should Burrow’s accomplishments, which stand out just a little more as worthy of the award.
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