The Comeback Player of the Year Award is one of the strangest awards in sports. Nobody knows what it means. Look at the award winners recently. All of them had different ways to get to the honor. In the year 2021, it went to Joe Burrow, who was part of the team that made it to the Super Bowl after an injury. Alex Smith won because of his ability to return to the field after suffering one of the most devastating, gruesome injuries in football history. Ryan Tannehill resurrected his career as the starter for the TennesseeTitans in the season after he wasn't hurt, and that was the reason for his "comeback." 
At the halfway point of the season, Saquon Barkley is leading the New York Giants to an outstanding record after missing significant time with a series of injuries. It is possible that it is Christian McCaffrey, who is now with the San Francisco 49ers. It's possible that it's the same thing as the one that happened to CharlesBarkley. If we were going to cover from the most devastating injury route, then maybe the Commanders could consider Brian Robinson, who got shot four weeks ago. Geno Smith would be the favorite if we were to go the career resurrection route. This year could be a good indicator of how the award will be viewed in the future.
For the first time, there are so many legitimate candidates for an end-of-season award, and instead of trying to say one option is better than another, I will try to diagnose the award by what voters actually think. What is that? There is a story.
The player with the most compelling comeback story is the one who gets the hardware. The social media feeds of Joe Burrow were a hive of activity last year. You couldn't walk two paces without seeing at least one version of Joe Sheisty. Two years after being the top pick in the draft, he was playing ball with his LSU teammate Ja'Marr Chase and they were breaking records.
Alex Smith was the subject of a documentary about his injury. The 17 surgeries, the infection, the near amputation, and Smith's resilience combined with his desire to get back on the field, just to show his kids that they could accomplish anything they set their minds to. Smith was a starter and led his team to a playoff spot despite a total team record of under.500. It is difficult to pass up that opportunity.
Nobody expected the Titans to compete for a playoff spot after they started the season 2-4 and benched their starter. Tannehill blew everyone out of the water with his performance. He turned his career around and earned a spot in the playoffs. He did not do anything after that. He beat Tom Brady, the top-seeded Ravens, and the Kansas City Chiefs, but fell to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. That was a good story, and it was seen all over the place.
Who are we seeing the most stories about in the NFL today? The person is Geno Smith.
The lack of expectations coming into 2022, as well as the other factors, play a factor. I don't think anyone expected the Seahawks to be this good. The 49ers, Rams, andCardinals made the playoffs last season, and everyone thought that they were the favorites to win the division. The ugly duckling of the division, the Seattle Seahawks, are the division leaders after 10 weeks of the season. Geno Smith has been one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. He was a shoo-in for the Pro Bowl after fighting for the starting job with Drew Lock. They tried to get rid of him. Smith said after defeating Russell Wilson in Week 1 that he would not write back. He has proved to be a fan favorite. He knows he belongs in the league for a long time.
This isn't a slight at what the likes of Henry, Robinson, and McCaffrey had to go through. Smith should be the recipient based on the votes that have been cast. Is that the correct way to go about it? You can't deny that almost anything that man does nowadays gets talked about on social media, and that's prime Comeback Player of the Year material.
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