- Saquon Barkley is the +125 favorite to win Comeback Player of the Year.
- Seattle’s Geno Smith is second at +190 odds while Christian McCaffrey is third at +275.
- Lions QB Jared Goff has gone out of nowhere to move to +700 odds
With no clear-cut betting favorite the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year odds boards have swung back and forth between Saquon Barkley and Geno Smith since the two moved to the top off the betting boards early in the season.
Entering Week 17, Barkley is on top of the betting boards with Smith lurking behind him. But aside from the two, Christian McCaffrey is closing in and Jared Goff has burst into contention.
Comeback Player of the Year Odds Tracker
One week ago, it was Seattle’s Smith who was the +115 betting favorite and San Francisco’s McCaffrey as the second favorite at +175 odds. But this week, the tides have turned once again with Barkley making a massive leap from +2000 to +125 and Smith dropping to +190 odds. McCaffrey also fell to third in the latest BetOnline odds board with his +275 odds with Jared Goff the only other player on the list at +700 odds.
This isn’t the first time that Barkley and Smith have traded places on top of the Comeback Player of the Year betting boards.
Barkley first took the top spot after Week 2 when he was listed at +600 along with Jameis Winston. The Giants’ RB then held on to the top spot until Week 9 when Smith moved from +225 to -135 after the Seahawks improved to 6-3 on the season and went over their regular season win total of 5.5 games. That week, the Giants took a bye and Barkley dropped from -155 to +140.
The following week, Seattle lost to Tampa Bay and Barkley rushed for 152 yards on a career-high 35 carries as New York improved to 7-2 SU on the season. With that performance, Barkley shot up to the top of the betting boards again at -115 odds while Smith fell to even money odds. A poor outing in Week 11 caused Barkley to drop to second at -105 with Smith reclaiming the top spot again at -115.
The Giants then went 1-2-1 in their next four games with Barkley totaling just 217 rushing yards during that stretch. That drop in performance also caused his odds to fall to +2000 before last week’s strong effort in a losing effort against the Vikings.
Barkley Among the NFL’s Rushing Leaders
2022 Rushing Leaders:
1,539 – Josh Jacobs
1,429 – Derrick Henry
1,344 – Nick Chubb
1,254 – Saquon BarkleyFull leaderboard: https://t.co/OGrnStSB1i pic.twitter.com/IyOwSB7zAR
— Pro Football Reference (@pfref) December 28, 2022
The Giants lost to the Vikings 27-24 last week but Barkley had a big game with 84 rushing yards on 14 carries with 1 rush TD while also catching 8 passes for 49 receiving yards. For the season, Barkley ranks 4th among NFL running backs with 1,254 rushing yards, 3rd in carries with 283, and 9th with 10 touchdowns. With still two games left to play, he is just 54 yards away from shattering his career-best 1,307 rushing yards produced during his rookie season where he won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and made the Pro Bowl.
But Barkley isn’t the only player having his best season since his rookie year.
Smith is making his first stint as a starter since 2014 when he was still with the New York Jets. The 32-year-old has thrown for 3,886 passing yards with 27 TDs and 9 INTs in 15 starts this season. That’s easily better than his rookie year in 2013 when he had 3,046 passing yards with 12 TDs and 21 INTs.
Aside from Barkley and Smith, Christian McCaffrey has been making noise since moving to the 49ers. McCaffrey has rushed for 580 yards with 5 TDs and caught 358 yards with 3 TD grabs since moving to San Francisco. The 49ers have won their last 8 games with CMC making their offense much better.
Then there is Jared Goff, whose Detroit Lions have won six out of their last 8 games played to vault into playoff contention at 7-8 SU. Goff ranks 7th in passing with 3,959 yards, 6th with 26 TDs, and 8th with only 7 INTs. During their last 8 games, Goff has thrown 14 TDs and only one interception.
