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NFL season specials preview: Free betting tips and odds
Christian McCaffrey can make a big impact as a rookie, says our David John, who previews this season's NFL specials markets.
The NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year is not a betting market I have ever ventured into down the years but I guess if you stick around long enough, eventually something will grab your interest.
Recipients of the award, as the name suggests, have had their career halted for a period of time by injury or illness before putting the pads back on and going on to make a significant impact.
Modern medicine, surgical procedures and rehabbing have seen players able to extend what remains a relatively short shelf-life in the league so the catastrophic knee or ankle injury of yesteryear that would end a career can now be repaired and rebuilt very successfully.
Recent winners include Jordy Nelson, Eric Berry and Adrian Peterson and a very likely candidate to follow in those footsteps is Arizona Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu.
"Anytime I feel healthy, I feel like I am the best defensive player in the league," the Honey Badger revealed in an interview with The Sporting News earlier in the summer – much to the annoyance of some of his peers.
His quote might have been somewhat inflammatory but is also not far off the mark either judged on his performance for the Cards in 2015 which saw him register 80 solo tackles, bag five interceptions and rack up a whopping 17 pass defences.
He was right in the argument for Defensive Player of the Year until suffering an ACL injury in week 15 that lingered into the start of last season and was then followed by a nagging shoulder issue suffered last October that also significantly slowed him down.
The signs for him through training camp and pre-season have been extremely encouraging though with the time well spent getting for one of the most physical players in the league at the position right up to speed.
Mathieu's instincts to get to the ball will never desert him but his body is now back in the sort of shape to match that mental sharpness, highlighted by two interceptions in warm-up fixtures against Chicago and Atlanta.
He goes in the staking plan and I can’t resist an interest either on Jay Cutler.
The long-time starting quarterback in Chicago decided his time in the NFL had come to an end after a turbulent last couple of seasons in the Windy City and was all ready to embark on a TV career as an analyst.
A serious knee injury for Miami play-caller Ryan Tannehill towards the end of training camp left them with a vacancy and an SOS went out to Cutler – who decided he already missed the game enough over the summer to give it another go at the age of 34.
The angle which is very much of interest is Cutler will link up with Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, the man who masterminded Cutler’s best season in terms of numbers in 2015 when offensive co-ordinator with the Bears.
Cutler is on a fast-track in terms of developing chemistry with his new team-mates but an in-depth knowledge of how Gase calls a game is huge while receiving talent like Kenny Stills, Jarvis Landry, DeVante Parker and Julius Thomas should be licking their lips considering Cutler can still deliver one of the best deep balls around.
A seeming indifference on the football field has been one of criticisms levelled at Cutler over the years and he probably does not have the drive or dedication of Tom Brady.
That said, I have always had a soft spot for his laconic, gunslinger-type approach and if he can keep the mistakes down, he is part of an offense that has a good chance of making it back to the play-offs when his contribution will be fully recognised.
The betting for Offensive Rookie of the Year has a couple of interesting angles, starting with the hugely-exciting Christian McCaffrey.
He was the second running back taken in the NFL Draft behind Leonard Fournette out of Stanford and looks set to make an immediate and important impact for Carolina.
The Panthers dropped off very badly last season with a 6-10 record following a trip to the Super Bowl and long spells of the season saw quarterback Cam Newton struggle to perform anywhere near the heights he scaled in 2015.
He took an unearthly amount of punishment in the pocket which led to off-season surgery on his shoulder and head coach Ron Rivera’s number-one priority is to ensure their franchise quarterback is the not subject of another pummelling.
That is where McCaffrey comes in. He'll take the pressure off Newton - not only will he thrive in the running game but also as a safety valve due to his ability to catch the ball from out of the backfield.
McCaffrey brings superb physical skills to his new team and also has a tremendous work ethic and football intelligence while at the same time being bred for the game as his father is former ultra-reliable Denver wide receiver and Super Bowl winner Ed McCaffrey.
There has already been much focus on McCaffrey junior over the summer and he has flashed huge promise at this level in pre-season encounters – granted a decent rub of the green in terms of injury, he is an absolute superstar in the making.
The other player to catch the eye in this market is LA Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
He played his college football at a slightly lower level at Eastern Washington University but was ridiculously productive over four years and now looks a bit of steal having gone in the third round of the NFL Draft.
Snapped up by the Rams, who need a huge boost on offense, I have watched some of his tape from college and he caught almost everything that went in his direction.
Cornerback Trumaine Johnson has liked what he has seen too and already told Kupp he should set his sights on rookie offensive honours this season and I can see him playing a big part in any success story if the Rams and sophomore quarterback Jared Goff start to progress.
To round off this section, Joey Bosa gets my vote to follow up a successful pick 12 months ago on Khalil Mack for Defensive Player of the Year.
It is a period of transition for the Chargers after finally leaving San Diego to move up the coast to Los Angeles and they will play this season at the StubHub Center in front of just 30,000 fans before eventually sharing a new $2billion facility in Inglewood with the Rams.
Bosa will hopefully be the bedrock of the team’s defensive strategy over the next decade having taken the NFL by storm over the closing 12 games of last season following a lengthy contract holdout.
He registered an astonishing 10.5 sacks over that period and looks to have picked up over the summer from where he left off, driven on by a desire to be the very best in the game.
He explained: "I have always been competitive. It is something that I love and I want to be the best at what I do.
"I hate losing and I hate getting blocked!"
The sky is the limit for a guy with the physical tools Bosa has in the locker and with a full summer under his belt getting to grips with the playbook we should see him flourish even more.
Mack and JJ Watt head the betting as Bosa still has something to prove in all honesty but I am going to take a punt he will rapidly close the gap at a very backable price.
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Posted at 1235 BST on 04/09/17
Coming next: Yardage markets preview - Tuesday, 0700 BST