Aidan Hutchinson recovery update adds heat to 2025 Comeback Player of the Year race

Below, we take an early look at five candidates for 2025's AP CPOY honors.

Odds provided by FanDuel and are accurate at the time of publication.

Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (+300)

Hutchinson was well on his way to earning AP Defensive Player of the Year last season before fracturing his fibula and tibia in Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys.

In five games, Hutchinson had 7.5 sacks, putting him on pace to break the single-season sack record (22.5). Per Pro Football Focus data, he had a 38.3 percent win rate on 198 pass rushes, including 49.5 percent win rate in true pass sets, defined as plays with a time to throw between 2-4 seconds while excluding screens, play-actions, rollouts and plays with fewer than four rushers. Both rates ranked first among edge-rushers with at least 128 pass-rushing snaps.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (+270)

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (+430)

The league's two highest-paid quarterbacks (in average annual value, along with Josh Allen, Joe Burrow and Jordan Love) are both coming off season-ending surgeries.

Prescott appeared in just eight games before having hamstring surgery on Nov. 13, 2024, while Lawrence underwent shoulder surgery a little over a month later on Dec. 17.

Both teams made changes at head coach, with the Cowboys hiring former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and the Jags hiring former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

Prescott is the current favorite to be named CPOY. With wideouts CeeDee Lamb and recently acquired George Pickens, he has a pair of excellent weapons who can assist him in bringing home the award.

Lawrence isn't far behind in betting odds, ranking fourth. The Jaguars offense boasts outstanding 2024 rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who led all first-year players with 1,282 receiving yards last year, and wide receiver (and cornerback) Travis Hunter, the 2024 Biletnikoff winner for best college football wide receiver.

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (+370)

McCaffrey finished second in CPOY voting in 2022, losing the honor to Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith after he resurrected his career with the Seattle Seahawks.

The 2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year will have a chance once again to be celebrated for a return from injury after Achilles tendinitis and a sprained knee limited him to four games last season.

McCaffrey made his season debut on Nov. 10 in Week 10 after missing the team's first eight games with his lower-leg injury. Four weeks later, he injured his knee during the second quarter of a 35-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills and missed the remainder of the season.

In 2022 when returning from hamstring and ankle injuries, McCaffrey gained 1,880 yards from scrimmage (1,139 rushing, 741 receiving) and scored 13 total touchdowns.

McCaffrey has already made one excellent comeback. It could be difficult for voters not to honor a second.

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (+4300)

Diggs is a surprising long shot, trailing Colts quarterbacks Anthony Richardson (+3000) and Daniel Jones (+3800).

The four-time Pro Bowler played for the Houston Texans last season and is coming off a Week 8 torn ACL. He signed a three-year, $63.5 million contract with the Patriots in free agency. 

That deal suggests New England plans on Diggs being a focal point of the offense led by second-year quarterback Drake Maye, who could potentially take a massive second-year leap.

Diggs will play a key role if he does, just as he did for Bills quarterback Josh Allen after Buffalo acquired him in a trade with the Vikings during the 2020 offseason.

The Patriots expect Diggs to be available for Week 1. Earlier this week, the 2020 first-team All-Pro spoke about his recovery and shared a bold prediction.

"I knew it wasn't going to beat me," Diggs said, via CBS Sports' Will Backus. "I wasn't worry about being the player I was before. I'm focused on being better than I was before."