Falcons player projected to win Comeback Player of the Year award

The Atlanta Falcons last had a player win a major NFL award in 2016 when Matt Ryan took home MVP. It was a big deal as he was the first Falcons player to ever win MVP of the league.

Another achievement that no other Falcon has ever won is Comeback Player of the Year, and one analyst sees a Falcons player finally taking home the award.

Falcons QB projected to win CPOTY by Good Morning Football analyst

The Atlanta Falcons are going through a transition period and many view their projected starting quarterback, Marcus Mariota, as nothing more than a ‘stopgap QB.’ Sure, there is reason to curb your enthusiasm about where Mariota could take this team, but he is a former second-overall pick for a reason.

He really could end up becoming the long-term starter for the Falcons, much like how Arthur Smith turned a washed-up Ryan Tannehill into a quality starter.

Good Morning Football had their predictions for who will be the Comeback Player of the Year for the NFL in 2022 and the majority of them predicted obvious names like Chris Godwin and J.K. Dobbins but James Palmer decided to predict an under-the-radar player in Marcus Mariota.

Most people associate this award with a player who is coming back from a major injury to help their team, like previous winners in Joe Burrow or Alex Smith. Marcus Mariota is not coming off any injury but neither was Ryan Tannehill in 2019, yet he still took home the award.

To see Marcus Mariota win the award would be so apropos as it would be the second time Arthur Smith turned a quarterback who was on his last legs into a franchise player and not to mention the fact that Tannehill was the one who snagged Mariota’s starting job as the Titans’ starting quarterback.

If Mariota ends up winning it then it would be safe to assume that he has the ability to lead this team for years to come. It would be a perfect scenario but would also complicate things with Desmond Ridder, but there are much worse problems to have.