Kareem Hunt's comeback with the Chiefs deserves more love from NFL award voters

The Chiefs running back deserves to be listed among the Comeback Player of the Year candidates.

Kareem Hunt dove for the extra yard in the Chiefs nine-point victory over Houston in the Divisional Round last week.
Kareem Hunt dove for the extra yard in the Chiefs nine-point victory over Houston in the Divisional Round last week. | Perry Knotts/GettyImages

The Kansas City Chiefs came into the 2024-25 NFL season with a huge target on their back after two-straight Super Bowl victories. However, injuries quickly nipped Andy Reid's high-powered offense in the bud before it could flourish. Because of these injuries to key players, the Chiefs were forced to look outside the team for answers that could make an immediate impact, and they found one on the couch in former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt.

Hunt, who was released from the team following a legal incident back in 2018, returned after five seasons in Cleveland and made his presence felt quickly. But despite his 2024 season basically duplicating last year's Comeback Player of the Year (CBPOY) winner, Hunt finds himself without any sort of recognition for the incredible season he's had after starting the year unemployed.

Instead, it appears the NFL is looking to right a wrong that was made last year by giving the Bills' safety Damar Hamlin another shot at the award alongside a few other players who could rightfully make a case for their spot.

Should Hunt feel snubbed? If he were to make it into the final five for the award, who would be taken off? And would he even have a real shot at winning over the other finalists if he were to be recognized?

Nobody saw Hunt's season going this way, just like Joe Flacco's last year...

At the end of last season, it was obvious that the Chiefs truly struck gold with their 2022 seventh-round pick out of Rutgers, Isiah Pacheco, but his injuries have piled up in his stint with the Chiefs.
With that said, there didn't seem to be a true backup plan at the position heading into this season outside of an undrafted rookie, Carson Steele, and an offseason pickup in Samaje Perine.

Sadly, the consequences of those lack of options reared their ugly head by the third game of the season. That's where Hunt came in and showed he could actually play RB1 even with Pacheco healthy and active.

Hunt only played 13 games (weeks 4-17), yet he amassed 904 yards from scrimmage which led the entire team and even surpassed key players like Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy, who played in every game before the final week against Denver.

Nobody saw this season playing out the way it has for Hunt, much like nobody saw last year's Cleveland Browns season going the way it did for the veteran QB Joe Flacco. Flacco, who also came off the couch, went under center for the Browns starting in Week 13 and miraculously led them to the playoffs by going 4-1 to end the season.

Not only did this shock the NFL, but his 1,616 passing yards and 13-8 touchdown-interception record earned him the coveted Comeback Player of the Year award over a man who quite literally died on the playing field just one season prior.

There was uproar at the decision, and it even caused the NFL to clarify the criteria of the award after social media and sports pundits went off on the league following the awards ceremony. But, even with the clarification, Hunt's season was just as impressive and astonishing as Flacco's and deserves to at least be acknowledged by the league with a placement in the final five.

Who could Kareem Hunt replace?

Let's be honest and admit Hunt would likely not win the award, especially after the league stated that it is meant to "honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury, or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season." But that doesn't mean he can't be recognized as a finalist for coming into Kansas City—a pass-happy offense—and surpassing all expectations in the backfield.

So, if Hunt were to somehow make it onto the CBPOY list who would he knock off?

Joe Burrow legitimately came back from a season-ending injury and played at an MVP caliber all season long, only for his lackluster defense to keep him out of the playoffs. So he's definitely safe.

J.K. Dobbins has also returned from a series of injuries (broken fibula, torn ACL, torn LCL, torn meniscus, torn hamstring, torn Achilles), including one that kept him from playing in 2021. His most recent injury ended his 2023 season in Baltimore after just one game. This year, he showed up in Los Angeles and made a huge impact by leading the league in yards per carry early in the season before another injury kept him from playing five games. It would be easy to say he is also deserving of the award this year.

Christian Gonzalez, the second-year cornerback for the New England Patriots, missed the final 13 games of his rookie season due to a torn labrum in Week 4 but he looked amazing this year. He was named to the AP's All-Pro second team after a lockdown season where he ranked seventh in the league in passer rating (70.5) and tenth in completion rate (54.8%) while covering the top receivers on the other side of the ball. Add in the two interceptions, seven pass breakups, and an electric scoop-and-score against Miami and it's easy to see him on the list.

Then there's Sam Darnold, the man who played as well as any quarterback for the first 16 weeks of the season before regressing to his New York Jets days when the games mattered most. That should not diminish the fantastic season he was gifted after rookie QB J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason. He brought the Vikings to a 14-3 record in a rebuilding year, throwing for over 4,300 yards and adding 35 touchdowns through the air.

While one could make the case for Darnold, he did not "come back" from injuries or illness in his one year with Minnesota (much like Hunt). Thus, if he were to win the award at the NFL Honors ceremony, many would likely compare his victory to Flacco's which could make him an easy target to knock off the list.

Finally, there's Damar Hamlin, the man that many believe should have won the award last year after returning from being clinically dead on the field during the Bills' game against Cincinnati late in the 2022-23 season. Hamlin's time to win the award was last year, obviously, but with his increased playing time this season for Buffalo, it appears the NFL is trying to send a message that they messed up one year ago.

Although Hamlin truly did come back from the most serious "injury" in modern-day NFL, he has played more snaps this season due to the fact that the Bills were forced to lose their two starting safeties in the offseason to create cap space. That does not mean Hamlin is not a good player in his own right, and his two interceptions, five pass deflections, and one fumble recovery all reflect that he can definitely play.

But, if Hamlin's shining moment was returning to the field last season then Hunt's monumental season in Kansas City this season could easily nudge the Bills' safety off the list like he and the Chiefs knocked him and his team out of the playoffs this past Sunday.

All-in-all, one could make an argument that Hunt's season could be seen as a bigger "comeback" than at least two of the five finalists that were announced early on Wednesday.

Hunt's postseason form proves his impact

Although the voting for players of the year is all recorded during the regular season, it's important to see just how important Hunt has become to the Chiefs in the two biggest games of the year so far.

In the Divisional Round matchup against Houston, it was Hunt who scored first, setting the tone for the game and for his 44-yard rushing performance (second-most by any player in the game).

Then, in the AFC Championship Game against Buffalo, it was once again Hunt who scored first, and it was once again Hunt who finished with the second-most rushing yards in the game (64) behind Buffalo's James Cook (85) who ripped off a 33-yarder that helped him surpass Hunt.

All this shows is that despite many believing the backfield would be Pacheco's once he returned to 100%, it's still Hunt's party. He is still the Chiefs' most trusted back when the biggest games are being played. The lights are not, and have not, been too bright for him and he is consistently reminding people that he should not have been on the couch to begin the season.

Although Hunt and his teammates likely don't care—or even notice—the CPOY award, it would still be a feather in the cap of a truly momentous season that few people could have predicted at the beginning of the year. Also, the award is a small minnow in the water when there are bigger fish to fry on the way to the NFL's first-ever three-peat. Hopefully, Hunt earns the first Super Bowl victory of his career—a much sweeter trophy to be holding at the end of the year.

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