Jared Goff was a Pro Bowler in 2017 and 2018. He helped lead the Rams to the Super Bowl two years ago and was in the mix for MVP for most of that season. But playing behind a shaky offensive line and with little help from his running game led to a down year in 2019.
He didn’t miss any games, nor was he benched or anything close to that. Yet, he’s still someone the oddsmakers are looking at as a potential Comeback Player of the Year candidate in 2020.
According to BetMGM, Goff is 40/1 to win the award next season, which is tied for 18th-best in the NFL. He’s right there with Myles Garrett, C.J. Mosley, Joe Flacco and Stefon Diggs, who would seem to have a very slim chance to win Comeback Player of the Year.
That puts into perspective Goff’s odds, which are also long comparatively speaking. The favorites are Ben Roethlisberger, Rob Gronkowski and J.J. Watt, who make much more sense as candidates to win the award.
Roethlisberger missed almost all of the 2019 season with an injury, Gronkowski is coming out of retirement and Watt is also returning from injury – even though he already did that in the playoffs.
Goff is coming back from … struggling. That’s not to say no player has ever won the award after a disappointing season the year prior, but Goff wasn’t exactly a disaster. He had 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with 4,638 yards – tied for third-most in the NFL.
Those aren’t terrible numbers, and even if Goff goes out and throws for 5,000 yards with 45 touchdowns, he’s not winning Comeback Player of the Year. He has a better chance to win NFL MVP than he does comeback player, even though oddsmakers disagree; Goff is 70/1 to win MVP.
It’s simply not worth betting on Goff to win Comeback Player of the Year. Not because he’s destined for another bad season, but because he’s not really coming back from much compared to his peers.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.