Your finalists for AP Comeback Player of the Year:

We touched on this Wednesday, but only briefly. The fact that Geno Smith is on here but Brandon Graham is not is totally absurd, simply for the fact that that Geno did not “come back” from anything at all.

When you look at the other finalists, Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey had big seasons returning from injury. Saquon rushed for more than 1,300 yards and made the Pro Bowl on the heels of a 13-game season in which he ran for 593 yards and was hampered by an ankle injury. That was one year after the ACL tear. McCaffrey only played seven games in Carolina in 2021, was traded to San Fran midseason 2022, and finished with more than 1,800 all-purpose yards while scoring 13 touchdowns. Both of those guys more than qualify for this award.

Geno didn’t overcome anything. He was on the bench, Russell Wilson got traded, then he had a breakout year. He should be in the running for some kind of “most improved” award, because that’s exactly what he is, the most improved player in the league. He’s a career journeyman who threw for 4,200 yards and 30 touchdowns and took the Seahawks to the playoffs. He showed perseverance, sure, but didn’t exactly face any kind of adversity. The guy ahead of him on the depth chart was shipped out. That’s it.

Graham’s case is infinitely better than Geno’s and probably Saquon’s too. Here’s a 34 year old who logged a career-high 11 sacks coming off a torn Achilles. That’s typically the pattern for award winners, guys who miss time due to injury then perform at a high level the following season. The last five years we’ve seen Alex Smith and Andrew Luck win this same award.


Anyway, Geno is my guy since he’s a WVU alum, he belongs nowhere near this list. B.G. was snubbed.