Updated NFL Comeback Player of the Year odds shows why league needs a Most Improved Player category

The most recent odds for NFL Comeback Player of the Year (CPOY) have revealed a flaw in the award.

Per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold recently overtook Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as the betting favorite for CPOY honors.

According to odds provided by FanDuel, Darnold (-125) is a slight favorite over Burrow (-110) entering Week 18.

The Bengals (8-8) play on Saturday evening (8 p.m. ET, ABC and ESPN) against the Steelers (10-6), and a loss will eliminate them from playoff contention.

As Florio noted, whether the Bengals make the playoffs or not could influence voters' decision-making, even though it shouldn't.

"If [Burrow] doesn't make the playoffs and if Darnold delivers the Vikings the No. 1 seed in the NFC... maybe it will be Darnold," Florio wrote.

Burrow's 2024 season has been the best of his five-year career, and it came after he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 11 of the 2023 season.

This season, Burrow leads the NFL in passing yards (4,641) and touchdowns (42).

Darnold has been excellent for the Vikings (14-2), but based on the Associated Press's voting criteria, he should be ineligible for the award.

As AP senior NFL writer Rob Maaddi noted in October 2024, "The AP issued guidance to voters before the season, instructing them that 'the spirit of the award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season."