Comeback Player of the Year Odds: Where is the Love for Adam Thielen?

I noticed something recently that caught my eye. I had been seeing a lot of buzz about odds for NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2020, with big names like Ben Roethlisberger and Rob Gronkowski atop most lists. So I looked up the odds on several major sportsbooks to see what Vegas thought of Adam Thielen's chances at the award, and...he wasn't there. On any of them.

BetOnline has 28 players listed, and Thielen isn't among them. Same with Bovada. DraftKings has odds for 21 players not named Thielen. SportsBettingDime doesn't have him either. I couldn't find him included anywhere.

Am I missing something? There are several players who currently aren't on NFL rosters who have odds listed as CPOY candidates – including Joe Flacco and Eli Manning, who is literally retired – yet Thielen isn't included on a single list. This is a guy who essentially missed eight games with a hamstring injury last season and only recorded 418 receiving yards, his lowest total since 2015 when he was still primarily a special teams contributor.

With Stefon Diggs no longer around, Thielen is going to dominate targets in Minnesota as he starts alongside rookie Justin Jefferson. He has a chance to become more of a deep threat and put up huge numbers in the Vikings' play-action-heavy offense. Surely that context should at least be enough to warrant consideration for Comeback Player of the Year if he has a huge season.

After all, two of the last four winners of the award were wide receivers: Jordy Nelson in 2016 and Keenan Allen in 2017. Both of those players missed virtually the entire season with injury the previous year, but I think Thielen missing half of the year should still be enough to get him in the discussion if he gets back to his prolific ways in 2020.

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