00:00And Tom mentioned Mahomes, who's actually the favorite to win a different award,
00:03which is the Comeback Player of the Year Award, which makes a lot of sense.
00:09However, I want to start with a name on this list that could catch some people by surprise
00:16and doesn't technically have a team at the moment.
00:23Who is Aaron Donald?
00:27I, and just following the reporters at this point now, expect Aaron Donald to un-retire
00:35in Joy in the Rams.
00:37That now seems inevitable.
00:43I don't.
00:45So I talked about this a lot last season.
00:47Comeback Player of the Year used to kind of be whatever you want it to be,
00:52and they were just giving it to guys who kind of used to not be all that good
00:56and then figured it out like a Geno Smith, right?
00:58They then changed the rules.
01:01Like, that's not what it is.
01:02It's a guy who came back from injury, basically, right?
01:05Came back from something.
01:07I don't understand if Aaron Donald applies.
01:11Like, they almost put out a press release.
01:13Like, hey, guys, Darnold can't win it.
01:15Or, hey, guys, Daniel Jones can't win it.
01:18That's not what this award is.
01:19This is about severe injury.
01:24I don't know if un-retiring, again, I don't know if it counts, Tom.
01:29If it does, does Aaron Donald have to be excellent, like, to win this?
01:37Do you think he should be a, like, should he be a big story just because he un-retired
01:42at a very young age and is coming back and playing still at a pretty normal age
01:46to be playing football at?
01:47Like, where do you land on the Donald piece of this?
01:51Ultimately, very conflicted because, you know, Aaron Donald, I think everyone agrees,
01:56is immediately in the Hall of Fame once he's eligible.
02:01No contest there.
02:02We're looking at a literally all-time great defensive player.
02:04And he's held in such high esteem from the media perspective, along with the fans,
02:09but especially the media perspective.
02:10When you look at some of the pass rush, win rate, like, all these things,
02:14he's held at such a high regard that if he were to play,
02:18I feel that almost some votes would naturally go to him,
02:21even though he doesn't fit this exact criteria.
02:23He wasn't hurt.
02:23He was just retired, took a couple years off, and now he's coming back
02:26because the Rams have a shot to win it, et cetera, et cetera.
02:28But I feel that some of the votes would go to him, right or wrong.
02:31It's not necessarily the spirit of the award, to your point.
02:35So I could see awards, votes going to him for this award.
02:39I think he would need to be above average rather than just being a replacement level
02:43defensive lineman that they rotate in and out.
02:46He would need to be 75% of his normal historic self in order for me to feel confident
02:51that he would take the award away from someone else.
02:53Because we can make the case that Daniel Jones, Malik Neighbors, all should be in the mix.
02:58And I would say Malik Neighbors is one of the more interesting to me
03:01because if you think he's going to be viable to win this,
03:04I think the Giants have a shot to make the playoffs if that's the case.
03:07So I just wanted us to add, and we're talking about it, but you look more into it.
03:12It does seem as if they put this in when Joe Flacco won it over DeMar Hamlin,
03:18which would basically tell me Donald's not a threat.
03:22Essentially, they changed the rules to make him ineligible.
03:25But I also bring it up to say, I don't think he should be eligible.
03:31The comeback player of the year is supposed to be an awesome story.
03:34Aaron Donald retiring at his peak and then unretiring because the Rams built a supers team
03:41isn't a great, it's fun to see that's not heartwarming.
03:47In fact, most people, by the middle of the year, might hate it.
03:52Okay?
03:53So I think the Donald odds are fascinating.
03:59I think what becomes interesting about this award, though, Tom,
04:03and I think it's why we start with the Aaron Donald thing,
04:06is are we basing this on guy who was injured, who then played the best,
04:12on most triumphant return, right?
04:16Like, I don't, like, is Mahomes tearing an ACL?
04:22All these guys tore there.
04:23Like, what is, like, you know what I mean?
04:25Like, what is it that we are looking for here?
04:28The only thing is, for me, and why Mahomes is rightfully the favorite,
04:32he's just such a big star that if he comes back, plays well there in the playoffs,
04:38I think he will be difficult to beat.
04:41I think he would be difficult to beat.
04:43I also think he's a favorite just based on, as I often say,
04:46it's just a risk thing for the books.
04:48We've seen Mahomes in OTAs running around and throwing the ball,
04:52and if he's going to be back and healthy,
04:54it's too much of a liability for the books to hang a 10-to-1 number out there on Mahomes.
04:59So they just want to essentially disincentivize people.
05:02Say, listen, you can bet on it.
05:03You're not going to – we're never going to give you great odds.
05:05And as soon as – if Mahomes starts week one, and even if he's okay-ish,
05:08and they kind of just – I don't want to say, like, put him on a pitch count,
05:11but they kind of just maybe lean on the run game a little bit more so he's healthy,
05:14and they, you know, come December, come January, et cetera,
05:16that would just cause him to win the award because he plays the whole season.
05:18He's good enough.
05:19They make the playoffs again, and that just causes him to win it.
05:22It may not be the best player.
05:24I could see Daniels having significantly better stats compared to him,
05:27especially if we would see Washington back in the playoffs,
05:29but they would just give it to Mahomes just because that's kind of the thing they do.
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