DANNY ONEIL

Person of Interest: Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer

Nov 11, 2015, 2:00 PM | Updated: 2:12 pm

With a 110.2 rating and 20 touchdowns through eight games, Carson Palmer is having a career year at...

With a 110.2 rating and 20 touchdowns through eight games, Carson Palmer is having a career year at 35. (AP)

(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.

Danny and Gallant Show

Wyman & Bob

Danny ONeil

Seahawks Quandre Diggs...

Danny O'Neil

O’Neil: Seahawks have uncertainty with a player ‘holding in,’ but it’s not Quandre Diggs

While Quandre Diggs appears to be the third Seahawks player to "hold-in" during training camp, Danny O'Neil writes that it's Duane Brown whose future is up in the air.

3 years ago

Follow @dannyoneil...

Danny O'Neil

AZ Good AZ it Gets

SPONSORED – Phoenix was the place where the rest of the country found out that Seattle fans took their enthusiasm on the road with them. That was 2013. It’s also the place where I discovered how restorative a desert vacation can be. That was 2015. Let’s start with the screaming. That’s what caught everyone’s attention […]

3 years ago

Mariners Jarred Kelenic...

Danny O'Neil

O’Neil: Mariners aren’t handing the spotlight over to Seahawks just yet

This is the time of year that Seattle tends to shift its focus to the gridiron, but the Mariners are still commanding attention.

3 years ago

Seahawks Duane Brown...

Danny O'Neil

O’Neil: When Seahawks decide not to extend players, they’re rarely wrong

If you think the Seahawks must sign Duane Brown to an extension, when's the last time they opted against re-signing someone and it came back to bite them?

3 years ago

Follow @dannyoneil...

Danny O'Neil

Oh, LA, LA!

Week 15, Dec. 19: Seattle at Los Angeles Rams, SoFi Stadium, 1:25 p.m. Pacific SPONSORED – Maybe it was fitting that the opening act for the first pro-football game I covered in Los Angeles was a rock band I loved as a teenager. There’s no place that makes me think of growing up more than […]

3 years ago

Follow @dannyoneil...

Danny O'Neil

Star in a Lone Star Adventure

Week 14, Dec. 12: Seattle at Houston Texans, NRG Stadium, 10 a.m. Pacific SPONSORED – Enchiladas and greatness. That’s what I think of in Texas. The enchiladas are pretty straightforward. They’re so delicious at El Tiempo Cantina that it’s hard to take a bite without closing my eyes. There are three locations though the one […]

3 years ago

Person of Interest: Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer