The New England Patriots have a lot of good things going for them this season following a full-on roster rebuild with a new coaching staff led by Mike Vrabel.
A large contributor to the successful season is wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who should be at the top of the running for the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 2025 season.
After undergoing season-ending ACL surgery in November of 2024, Diggs worked hard to return for the start of this season, less than 10 months after having surgery, while also going through free agency at 31 years old.
In his first season with New England, Diggs is leading the team in targets (72), receptions (59), yards (659), and first downs (34). He also has some of the best marks of his career with his 65.3% receiving success rate and with an 81.9 catch percentage.
Since 2000, there have only been three wide receivers to win the award, and the last seven recipients have been quarterbacks. That said, it’s been eight years since there was a non-quarterback to win the award, which went to wide receivers in consecutive years for the first and only time in the history of the award.
- Steve Smith (2003): 103 rec., 1,563 yds, 12 TD
- Jordy Nelson (2016): 97 rec., 1,257 yds, 14 TD
- Keenan Allen (2017): 102 rec., 1,393 yds, 6 TD
All three wide receivers returned the following year from a major injury and led the NFL in some way in their returns. They also all had career years during those years. Smith led the NFL in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Nelson led the league in touchdowns, and Allen led the league in total first downs (74).
Patriots WR Stefon Diggs Should Win NFL Comeback Player of the Year
Diggs might not finish the season with the most receiving yards in his career or even lead the league. However, he’s still on pace to eclipse 1,000 yards this season while being a major contributor to one of the top teams in the league, that's been led by a second-year QB.
It has to mean something for a player to be one of the main reasons why the team is successful, even if he isn’t a league-leader. In fact, veteran quarterbacks Geno Smith (2022) and Joe Flacco (2023) both won the award in consecutive years, not for coming back from an injury, but for just exceeding expectations with their level of play.
Not to discredit what Smith and Flacco accomplished in those years, but that’s not what the award is designed for, and the NFL needs to get it back on track, which can happen this year with a handful of candidates that aren’t quarterbacks and that are returning from actual injuries.
Some of the other players in the running, along with Diggs and also returning from injuries, are Christian McCaffrey, Dak Prescott, Aidan Hutchinson, and Chris Olave. I believe that Diggs has the upper hand because he’s the only player who is on a new team, and that should mean something for this award.
The Patriots have seen three of their players earn Comeback Player of the Year since 2005. It’s worth mentioning that in 1966, Babe Parilli won the award for an increased performance and not for returning from an injury. And Rob Gronkowski is the first and only tight end to win the award.
- Tedy Bruschi (2005)
- Tom Brady (2008)
- Rob Gronkowski (2014)
Diggs could be the next Patriots player to win the Comeback Player of the Year Award, and it would be well-earned. Not many people could argue that he doesn’t deserve it when considering all of the variables involved with his season.