Don’t call it a comeback.
Actually, call it a comeback, because each of these players have made their mark in the NFL but were either injured, suspended, retired or just not very good in 2016. They all have their sights set on a comeback in 2017, and if they can regain their pre-2016 form, they’ll be candidates for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.
No. 10: Eric Decker
The only reason Eric Decker is so low on this list is that he hasn’t yet joined the team he’ll be playing for in 2017. When the Jets decide whether to trade or release Decker and he’s picked up by another team, his comeback stock will rise.
The wide receiver had hip and shoulder surgery last season and was limited to nine catches in three games. He caught 80 passes and scored double-digit touchdowns in three of his four previous seasons. The only time Decker fell short of 80 receptions during that time, he caught 74 passes in 2014, his first year with the Jets.
Jeremy Maclin also is available. This gives receiver-needy teams an interesting choice. After catching just 44 passes for the Chiefs last season, Maclin has a lot of room for a comeback. But if both players have similar seasons wherever they end up, Decker would get the nod because he’ll have come a longer way.
There are #Jets players who are still finding out about the Eric Decker news, literally. "Never. Wait are you serious? That's crazy."
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) June 6, 2017
No. 9: Junior Galette
The Redskins signed Junior Galette before the 2015 season, and they’re hoping this is the year he gets on the field.
Galette has missed each of the last two seasons with Achilles tears, but during the Redskins’ offseason program he’s started to look like the guy who had 12 sacks for the Saints in 2013 and 10 in 2014.
“He knows he’s got a little ways to go,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden told ESPN.com. “But you can still see that he’s got the quick twitch, which you really need off the edge.”
Even though he hasn’t played a snap for them, the Redskins signed Galette to a one-year contract for the third time this offseason. They recognize his upside.
No. 8: Keenan Allen
Keenan Allen has played just nine games in the last two seasons, so he has to prove that he can stay healthy.
Allen missed eight games with a lacerated kidney in 2015 and tore his ACL in Week 1 last season, but he’s ahead of schedule in his recovery. He had been targeting training camp for his return to football activity, but practiced at organized team activities.
The Chargers drafted Mike Williams with the No. 7 overall pick with Allen’s health in mind, but he’s out until training camp with a back injury. That’s not going to help the rookie’s development. If Williams struggles, Philip Rivers and the Chargers will have to lean on Allen out of necessity. There might be enough talent around Allen for him to thrive. Running back Melvin Gordon had a breakout sophomore season and the Chargers seem to have upgraded their offensive line.
Allen caught 67 passes in the eight games he did play in 2015. He’s still only 25, so he still could have that kind of production in him.
No. 7: Martavis Bryant
Martavis Bryant has played in just 24 games, including playoffs, since he was drafted in 2014. The Steelers wide receiver has made an impact when he’s been on the field. He’s caught 76 passes, 14 for touchdowns, and averaged 17.3 yards per reception. He’s also caught 19 passes, including two touchdowns, in three playoff games.
Bryant, however, hasn’t always been there when the Steelers have needed him. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy and then was banned for all of 2016. He was reinstated in April and has been saying all the right things.
The Steelers will believe it when they see it, of course. For now, they can see that Bryant wasn’t sitting on the couch for all of his year-long suspension. He’s added 10 pounds of muscle.
Even in his rookie season, Bryant wasn’t activated until Week 7. So if Bryant stays off the marijuana, he not only can give the Steelers what they need to possibly get past the Patriots in the playoffs, he also can give them something he’s never given them by getting on the field in September.
No. 6: Marshawn Lynch
Before Marshawn Lynch becomes a candidate for the Comeback Player of the Year award, he’ll have to produce and the voters will have to be convinced that this is the same person who couldn’t stand the media when he played for the Seahawks.
Lynch held court with reporters on Tuesday talking about how the Raiders’ impending exit from Oakland is what inspired him to come out of retirement and play for his hometown team.
The burly running back helped the Seahawks get to the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2014 by basically scoring a touchdown for every 100 yards he gained. In 2013, Lynch ran for 1,257 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2014, he ran for 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns. He started just six games in an injury-riddled 2015 and retired after the season.
In Oakland, the 31-year-old Lynch will be coming off a year of rest and running behind an offensive line that Pro Football Focus ranked No. 4 in the NFL in 2016.
If Lynch takes advantage of that and is as open with the media as he was on Tuesday, he might just get enough votes to be named Comeback Player of the Year.
No. 5: Brandon Marshall
Brandon Marshall caught 59 passes for the Jets last year, so it’s not like he fell off the face of the earth. He did, however, disappear down the stretch with the Jets going nowhere.
Marshall caught 10 passes in his last four games and sat out the season finale, and his 59 receptions were a 50-catch drop from the 109 he caught in 2015. Marshall also tied for the league lead with 14 touchdowns two years ago. He caught just three last season.
The Giants signed the 33-year-old Marshall to a two-year contract in an effort to milk one last championship from the Eli Manning Era. With Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard and possibly rookie tight end Evan Engram drawing a lot of defensive attention, Marshall could find himself open a lot. If he’s a factor in a deep Giants postseason run, he’d be Comeback Player of the Year material.
No. 4: Tyrann Mathieu
The last time Tyrann Mathieu shed a knee brace, he became an All-Pro.
The year was 2015. The Cardinals defensive back intercepted five passes, returning one for a touchdown, and broke up 17. He tore his ACL in Week 15, however, and Mathieu was bound by the knee brace again last season. He also was limited to 10 games because of a shoulder injury and recorded just one interception and four pass breakups.
Mathieu has been working without a knee brace during the offseason, and it could free him up for a comeback.
“I think a lot of my game is just making wild plays and exciting plays,” Mathieu said Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I feel like when you have a knee brace on, not only does it restrict you physically, but mentally you kinda know that you know you aren’t where you want to be.”
Just as the Cardinals want to erase the memory of their 7-8-1 season in 2016, Mathieu wants to get back to making plays.
No. 3: Rob Gronkowski
Rob Gronkowski could become the third player to be named Comeback Player of the Year twice, joining Garrison Hearst and Chad Pennington.
Gronkowski won the award in 2014 after playing just seven games in 2013. Gronkowski missed the first six games of the 2013 season after a surgery on his forearm led to an infection. His season ended in December when he tore his ACL.
The Patriots’ mammoth tight end came back in 2014 and caught 82 passes, 12 for touchdowns, in earning his first Super Bowl ring.
Last year, Gronkowski sat out the first two games with a hamstring injury, missed one game with a chest injury and suffered a season-ending back injury. He ended up playing in just eight games with career lows in receptions (25), receiving yards (540) and touchdowns (three).
The 28-year-old Gronkowski has fully taken part in organized team activities. He hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2011, but if he at least finishes the regular season and produces like he always does when he’s healthy, he’ll be in the Comeback Player of the Year conversation.
No. 2: Adrian Peterson
Coming off the worst year of his career, Adrian Peterson can add to his impressive trophy collection with a bounceback season in New Orleans.
His Saints teammates seem impressed with him at organized team activities. Drew Brees even told ESPN that he’s a “stud.” Although his performance without pads needs to be taken with a grain of salt, this is Adrian Peterson.
Peterson ran for 72 yards in three games for the Vikings last season, missing most of the year with a torn meniscus. Mark Ingram is coming off his first career 1,000-yard rushing season, so Peterson won’t have to be the workhorse. But if he regains his form from two years ago, when he ran for 1,485 yards, the Saints offense could be scary.
No. 1: J.J. Watt
The last two seasons in which J.J. Watt played a full 16 games, he was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, he was sidelined for the first time in his career, missing 13 games with a back injury.
Watt has been the Defensive Player of the Year in three of the last four seasons that he’s played 16 games. He won the award in 2015 despite playing hurt. The one year he didn’t win it, 2013, he still had 10.5 sacks. If Watt returns to form and becomes even a candidate for his fourth DPOY honor, he’d be the front-runner for the comeback award.
The 28-year-old Watt has taken part in the Texans’ organized team activities and looks to be a full go for training camp. He recently was listed at No. 35 on the NFL Network’s “Top 100 Players of 2017” list, and said that he was ranked too high.
I played 3 games… this list is a joke. https://t.co/KnKDX1p816
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) June 6, 2017
Watt could have thanked his fellow players for their respect, since they’re the ones who cast the votes for this list. Instead, he expressed his dissatisfaction with last season and sent the message that he has something to prove.
That’s a scary thought for opposing quarterbacks.
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