Person of Interest: Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer
Nov 11, 2015, 2:00 PM | Updated: 2:12 pm
(AP)
Vitals
• Position: Unfrozen franchise quarterback
• Height: 6-5
• Weight: 235
• Age: 135 … errr, wait … 35 – he only seems like he’s 100 years old
• Experience: 13th season
The storyline
Hard to call him underrated. The man with two last names was one of the top high-school recruits in the nation coming out of Orange County when he enrolled at USC. And he was the top overall pick in the draft when he entered the NFL in 2003.
Yet somehow, he has been written off prematurely first in college and then later in the NFL only to reach his peak. His college legacy was considered to be unfulfilled until he blossomed in 2002, his final collegiate season and Pete Carroll’s second year at USC. Palmer won the Heisman Trophy while USC earned the first of seven consecutive conference titles.
Chosen No. 1 overall by Cincinnati, Palmer spent his first season on the bench before leading the Bengals to the postseason in his second season as a starter only to suffer a serious knee injury in the first quarter of that first playoff game. The Bengals never got that far with Palmer again, and by 2010, he was experiencing arm problems and entered his own wilderness period. No, he didn’t grow a beard like Al Gore, but he did decide he wouldn’t play for Cincinnati anymore.
That ultimately precipitated a trade to Oakland in the middle of the 2011 season, and when that didn’t restore the Raiders to relevance, he was shipped to Arizona after the 2012 season.
What happened next is a comeback that even Lazarus could admire. A quarterback that so many thought was done in 2011 was the triggerman in a suddenly resurgent Arizona franchise. And while a torn ACL last year may have short-circuited the Cardinals’ season, it only paused what has been Palmer’s late-career renaissance.
“I’ve always thought he’s about as perfect a thrower as you can find,” Carroll said, “and he looks the best he’s ever been. I see him at his very best right now.”
Arizona is 19-4 in the last 23 games Palmer started, a run that includes a victory in Seattle in December 2013 that is memorable for two very distinct reasons. First, Palmer was intercepted four times by the Seahawks in that game. Second, it was the first time Seattle lost a home game since Russell Wilson became the team’s starting quarterback.
The statement
Palmer has thrown for 2,386 yards, fifth-most among all NFL quarterbacks this season. The most impressive number, however: 9.2. That’s how many yards Palmer is averaging per pass attempt, most of any regular starter in the league.
That gives you an idea of how aggressive the Cardinals are in moving the ball downfield. This is a big-play offense, one that utilizes John Brown’s speed on the outside and Larry Fitzgerald’s physical play everywhere from lining him up in the slot – where he’s a ferocious blocker – to split end.
Palmer isn’t just the point guard for this offense. He’s more like the clean-up hitter who’s looking for opportunities to throw a home-run ball.