Mahomes the CPOY Favorite, But Skattebo's the Only Name Fantasy Cares About
Mahomes sits at +185 for Comeback Player of the Year after a torn ACL. But the fantasy value hides further down the board, on Cam Skattebo at +3500.
Full comeback could make him a flex-worthy RB2 in a thin Giants backfield.
- Mahomes leads CPOY at +185, 46.2% of the handle
- Skattebo is the top RB at +3500 in CPOY odds
- Skattebo posted 126 PPR pts in 8 games (2025)
- Watson moved from +8000 to +5000 at BetMGM
- McCaffrey scored 417 PPR pts last year (2025)
Comeback Player of the Year odds landed with the season a week out, and the top of the board reads like an MVP ballot: Patrick Mahomes at +185, Jayden Daniels at +400 and Kyler Murray at +550. Mahomes is the runaway favorite coming off the torn ACL and LCL that capped him at 14 games last year, and the book is heavily exposed — he's drawn 46.2% of the handle and 18.1% of tickets on the prop. He'll start Week 1 against Denver after being cleared for all activities in late July.
Here's the thing for fantasy managers, though: none of those quarterbacks move your roster needle based on an award. The pick that actually matters sits at +3500 — Giants running back Cam Skattebo, the shortest-priced back on the board. Skattebo racked up 126 PPR points across just eight games in 2025 before his season ended, which slots him at RB36 and No. 148 overall in our rankings heading into 2026.
Why the QB Favorites Are Noise
Mahomes only missed three games, so the "comeback" label is generous — the Tom Brady 2009 parallel doesn't really hold up when Brady lost basically an entire year. Murray carries a better story: he's back from injury and won Minnesota's starting job over J.J. McCarthy, with arguably more weapons around him than Mahomes has. But award odds and fantasy production aren't the same currency. You draft these guys on their real projections, not on a sportsbook prop.
Then there's Deshaun Watson, the name the book is sweating most. His odds shortened from +8000 to +5000 despite him winning what everyone agrees is an underwhelming Browns job over Shedeur Sanders. Watson threw for just 1,148 yards in seven games back in 2024 (85 PPR points) and sits at QB39, No. 226 overall. Nobody expects him to hold the job all season, and he's not a fantasy asset in any format that matters.
The Fantasy Angle
Christian McCaffrey took this award in 2025 after a 417-PPR-point monster season, and he's not even a betting option this year — nor does he need the storyline, sitting as our No. 1 overall back. The award itself is a distraction. What's worth tracking is whether Skattebo's return signals a genuine workload in a thin Giants backfield.
Bottom line: ignore the quarterback odds entirely for roster purposes. Skattebo is the only CPOY candidate with real upside on draft day — a full, healthy season makes him a flex-worthy RB2 rather than the RB36 his eight-game 2025 suggests. Watch his camp reps and Week 1 touches before spending real capital, but he's the name from this list to keep on your board.
