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Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt is one of the favorites to capture the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award for the 2020 season following last year's campaign. Last year, Watt suffered a torn pectoral injury limiting him to eight regular-season games—only to return for the AFC South franchise's two postseason games earlier this season.
Per Mark Lane in Texans Wire, Watt, 31, possesses the third-best odds to win the 2020 Comeback Player of the Year. Watt follows after Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (who only appeared in one game in 2019 before suffering a season-ending elbow injury) and new Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski joined the team via trade after retiring for a season and missing last year. Watt's odds are at 6-1, and this is betting on a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, too.
After combining to compete in eight games between the 2016-17 seasons for the Texans due to back surgery and a fracture in his leg, Watt returned in 2018 to appear in all 16 games during the 2018 season. He earned a Pro-Bowl selection and first-team All-Pro honors in a campaign that included 16 sacks, a league-leading seven forced fumbles, and 61 combined tackles.
It was a tough few years for Watt after winning back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year distinctions in 2014-15—the pinnacle of the Texans star's NFL career.
Gronkowski previously won the award for the 2014 season after the tight end sustained an ACL tear in 2013 and only appearing in seven games that year.
The NFL's Comeback Player of the Year is technically a non-unified award. Multiple outlets — including most prominently, the Associated Press and Professional Football Writers of America — handout awards. But both organizations haven't disagreed on their respective selections since Dallas Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis and then–New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss won the two awards, respectively, in 2007.
