Comeback Player of the Year is one of the NFL’s most unique honors. It is not just about putting up big numbers but about overcoming something serious and returning to a high level when many doubted it was possible. The field of candidates usually starts to take shape in the first month of the season. A familiar name in Cleveland is beginning to work his way into the discussion.
Tony Grossi of The Land On Demand explored Watson’s case while previewing Thursday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Patrick Mahomes probably has the NFL comeback player-of-the-year award locked up. But Deshaun Watson can bring some awareness that he belongs in the conversation if he keeps winning games. After two consecutive fourth-quarter comeback wins, Watson has a chance to win three games in a row for the first time in five years with the Browns. He’s 18th in completion percentage (68.3), 24th in passing yards (587), 14th in TD passes (five), and 22nd in average yards per attempt (7.2),” Grossi wrote.
Watson’s path back has been a long one. He last played in 2024 before multiple Achilles surgeries kept him off the field for all of 2025, and there were serious questions about whether he would ever be a starting quarterback again. At 31, he won the job this summer and has started every game.
Mahomes is the clear favorite, and it is easy to see why. He is the face of the league, and voters tend to gravitate toward the biggest stars when an award race is close.
Grossi’s numbers also show the limits of Watson’s case. He sits in the middle of the pack or lower in completion percentage, passing yards and yards per attempt, which means the statistics alone will not carry him.
What can carry him is winning in big moments. Watson’s 148.4 passer rating in the 4th quarter leads the NFL, edging out Mahomes at 148.0. He has thrown go-ahead touchdown passes in the final 4 minutes of back-to-back games, something no Browns quarterback had done since Brian Sipe in 1980.
His overall efficiency has also taken a major jump. He has a 104.1 passer rating with 5 touchdowns and just 1 interception, compared to a 79.0 rating in his last season on the field.
The win streak Grossi mentioned would be significant on its own. Watson has never won 3 straight games during his time in Cleveland, and doing it against a division rival would add another milestone to an already improbable start.
The perception of him is shifting too. Watson was booed during the preseason, but fans cheered him off the field after Sunday’s win over Carolina, and Andrew Berry was waiting in the tunnel to greet him.
Thursday’s game puts him on a national stage in front of voters and fans across the league. He will do it without starting center Elgton Jenkins, as Luke Wypler is expected to make the start, while Pittsburgh has its own questions with Jalen Ramsey listed as questionable.
Winning the award remains a long shot. But a few weeks ago, nobody would have put Watson’s name in the same sentence as Comeback Player of the Year, and that alone shows how much his story has changed.
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