The explosion of legalized gambling has unlocked a wide variety of wagers, from those based on the outcome of one or more games to those based on the votes cast by 50 media members, some of whom shouldn’t be casting a ballot at all, frankly.
One of the end-of-season acknowledgements goes to the Comeback Player of the Year. As with all of the Associated Press awards, there are no rules or specifications or definitions. Comeback from what? Injury? Adversity? Suspension? Not being very good?
Sometimes, the Comeback Player of the Year was never even established in the first place, like Matthew Stafford in 2011 or Ryan Tannehill in 2019.
For 2022, a very intriguing candidate, as mentioned by Peter King on Friday’s PFT Live, is Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
A shoulder injury limited Smith-Schuster to five games in 2021. He had only 15 catches for 129 yards on the season.
Now with the Chiefs, his numbers could explode in the team’s pass-heavy offense. Combined with the high profile of the team, the likelihood that it once again will be very good, and the charisma of Smith-Schuster, high numbers of catches, yards, and/or touchdowns could position him to win the award.
PointsBet currently has Smith-Schuster at +2500, or 25-1. When we did the video, he was 17-1; thus, the value has gotten even better over the past three days. (Apparently, folks who saw the show weren’t sufficiently moved to move the odds lower.)
The current favorite is Titans running back Derrick Henry at +350. Next is Saints quarterback Jameis Winston at +650. In all, 12 players have better odds than Smith-Schuster, including Giants quarterback Daniel Jones at +800, who if he wins it would fall into the Stafford/Tannehill category.
It’s definitely a crapshoot. Plenty of guys could win it. At 25-1, Smith-Schuster looks like a good value play. Especially if the odds keep moving like they did from Friday to today.