QB Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals

HT: 6-5, WT: 230, Born: 12-27-1979, College: Southern California, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 1

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 6th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: Z Stacy (181), D Allen (182), Carson Palmer (183), J Bell (185)
Position: R Tannehill (174-QB22), S Bradford (176-QB23), Carson Palmer (183 - QB24), J Locker (190-QB25), A Smith (214-QB26)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

Latest News

Cardinals | Carson Palmer wants chemistry with all WRs (Wed May 15, 06:04 PM) - Arizona Cardinals QB Carson Palmer said he wants to build chemistry with all of the wide receivers because he will not be able to throw to WR Larry Fitzgerald all the time. 'It's of the utmost importance to be on the same page with Larry, but it's of the utmost importance to be on the same page with every one of those guys because the ball can't always go to him,' Palmer said. 'I know that's not what he wants to hear, but that's the truth. There will be teams that key on him and there will be games where he doesn't have as many catches as other games. It's that much more important I have that rhythm and timing down with [WR Michael Floyd] and [WR Andre Roberts] and whoever that third and fourth guy is going to be.'

Our View: The Cardinals improved their O-Line this year and that will allow Palmer more time to throw. The Bruce Arians offense is all about downfield passing and being aggressive downfield. Larry Fitzgerald finished last year as the 42nd best fantasy WR but could finish in the top 25 this season.
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2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Palmer’s numbers look efficient, but a lot of that was the result of an inordinate amount of short passes (15 of his 32 completions went to running backs). Early on, he had a lot of time to throw and the line was giving him good protection. Palmer was finding the soft spots in the zone and picking it apart. But still, he wasn’t taking any shots down the field. A lot of that likely had to do with him being without two of his top wideouts in Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford. In their place were the likes of Rod Streater and Derek Hagan. Darrius Heyward-Bey did play, but he garnered a lot of the San Diego defensive attention and didn’t put up big stats. Hagan was solid early on but kind of disappeared in the second half. Streater had an opportunity for a big game, but fumbled away one reception and couldn’t hang onto a deep ball attempt that should have been a big gain. Due to the issues with the receivers, Palmer never looked very far down the field and opted for a lot of check downs (RB Darren McFadden had a whopping 13 receptions). Palmer and McFadden nearly hooked up on a touchdown late in the first half, but the San Diego defense stopped McFadden just short of the goal line as Oakland settled for a field goal. Palmer finally did get that touchdown with a minute left in the game when he hooked up with the aforementioned Streater for a quick slant in the end zone from two yards out (adding a two point conversion on the next play for good measure). But generally speaking, Palmer was under a lot more duress in the second half and was rarely given ample time to throw. He was fortunate to not turn the ball over, because the San Diego pass rush came hard and came often. Palmer was nearly picked off in the first half in the end zone, but the defender who got two hands on the ball was unable to corral the football.

Week 2 - Palmer’s statline makes it seem as if he put on a passing clinic. After watching the game twice, I still can’t figure out how he threw for 373 yards. It had to be one of the most unimpressive 350+ performances in NFL history. It wasn’t really a garbage time display either, as he started pouring on the yards early on when he hit Mike Goodson on a dumpoff pass in the first quarter, and watched as Goodson streaked down the right sideline for a 64 yard TD. Palmer’s real problem is an inability to handle pressure. On play-action, when Palmer would set and fire, his throws were usually dead-on and accurate. But anytime he started to make a few plays, the Dolphins would bring the heat, and Palmer would quickly get rid of the ball, throw off his back feet and stall drives. A drive in the second half started off great with a strike to the streaky Denarius Moore. But then Palmer threw three really poor throws to stall a drive. On another occasion, Palmer drove the Raiders to the five yard line. But then he seemed to hesitate on a throw to Mcfadden, which Mcfadden then dropped; he hesitated on a throw to Heyward-Bey, which ended up being overthrown, and the Raiders had to settle for a field goal. In fairness to Palmer, the Raiders had no running game, the pass rush was relentless, and the Dolphin CB’s were ALL OVER the wr’s, playing extremely physical. But regardless, when Palmer was rushed, he panicked. Palmer doesn’t seem to go through progressions well when the blitz comes. While Peyton Manning or Brady can get the ball out and on time, the blitz seems to force Palmer into making quick throws to whomever he is looking at. Whether this is still a result of his knee injury or not, Palmer has to make better decisions, because his line is going to cause him to get pressured all year long.

Week 3 - Palmer started out the game in a very unfortunate way. His receiver, Denarius Moore, fell down on the team’s first play – resulting in an interception. The team’s second drive saw a long touchdown run by Darren McFadden, further delaying Palmer’s ability to get into a rhythm. After a Pittsburgh fumble in the second quarter, Palmer led a short drive that ended in a touchdown pass with great touch over a Pittsburgh defender. He later threw his second touchdown on a short play-action pass to tight end Richard Gordon. The most impactful play he made came in the fourth quarter as he stepped up in the pocket to avoid a rush and threw to his left to hit Moore for a touchdown to cut the lead to three. With Moore back in the fold and McFadden finally feeling more confident and running harder, the offense should be more successful. One situation to monitor, however, is that Darrius Heyward-Bey left the game with a concussion. This offense was at its best during the three quarters in which both starting receivers were healthy.

Week 4 - It was a tale of two halves for Carson Palmer and the Oakland Raider offense. Both scoring drives and 142 of Palmer’s 202 passing yards came in the first half. Palmer’s first pass was a beautifully designed screen to Marcel Reece, with Palmer faking the handoff to Darren McFadden, pumping the fake downfield before looking back to Reece in the flat. Palmer would again go to Reece on the next play, picking up four before attacking Tracy Porter and finding Derek Hagan for 11 yards. Ultimately, the drive stalled as Denver began to bring pressure (what became a major theme on Sunday), forcing a 38-yard FG from Sebastian Janikowski. Penalties killed the Raiders 2nd drive, namely a holding call that left Oakland in 3rd and 12. Denver again brought pressure, forcing Palmer to throw the deep post a little early to Denarius Moore. Moore was behind the coverage, but the ball was placed up the field instead of out in front of Moore (because of the pressure) and the pass fell incomplete. The Raiders’ next scoring drive just before half saw Palmer’s best throw downfield, a 37-yard pass to a streaking Moore. Again attacking Porter, Palmer threw the pass out in front of Moore, who was able to run by Porter and underneath the perfect touch pass, just barely missing getting into the end zone after safety Mike Adams clipped Moore’s feet. Again the drive stalled, but it appeared Oakland would take some momentum into the 2nd half. However, looks can be quite deceiving. Oakland opened the 2nd half with the same screen pass to Reece that gained 31 yards on the opening drive, but Denver wasn’t to be fooled again (Oakland would try again later in the game, with failed results). Champ Bailey broke the pass up. After a short run from McFadden, Palmer found Moore, but a bad spot (and even worse non-challenge from the Oakland coaching staff) forced the first of four three and outs for the Raider offense in the 2nd half. The offensive barrage from Denver in the 3rd quarter forced Oakland away from an already struggling running game and allowed the Broncos to blitz incessantly. Palmer really took a beating in the 2nd half, getting hit on nearly every play and was unable to pick up a first down until the 4th quarter when the game was well at hand. Palmer did not turn the ball over. However, Mike Adams should have had an INT as Palmer rolled to his right and threw slightly across his body to TE David Ausberry. Adams was reading Palmer’s eyes the whole way and stepped in front of the pass, but it slipped right through his hands. Palmer also fumbled late in the game, but Oakland was able to recover. It is hard to believe this Oakland team was able to beat the Steelers only a week ago as their offense couldn’t have looked worse on Sunday. Oakland had a total of eight (eight!!!) yards and zero first downs in the 3rd quarter while Manning accumulated 181 yards and three TDs. Unimaginative, short-handed and repetitive, Oakland’s offense was abysmal in the 2nd half.

Week 6 - Carson Palmer had a very nice day by his standards on both the eye test and numbers scale, going for 353 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His offensive line was overmatched on several occasions, including a big game for John Abraham, who registered 5 tackles, 3 sacks and forced a fumble. Palmer did underthrow a couple easy passes, but he was on target for much of the day, throwing nice touch passes with regularity to his wide receivers and tight ends. Palmer was forced to move around with regularity, making nice throws on the run, off his back foot, etc. Palmer had a touchdown pass dropped by Brandon Myers, and the Raiders had to settle for a field goal on that possession. His lone touchdown pass was a very nice play by Denarius Moore, who ducked under a tackler and scooted into the endzone for a 25 yard play. Palmer's interception was simply a great play by the gambling cornerback who jumped a route and took it to the house for 79 yards. Palmer could have seen Samuel there, but more credit goes to Samuel than blame to Palmer. Palmer also had a much worse throw nearly picked off by Robert McClain who also jumped a route. All in all, given the offensive line issues and a couple drops here and there, a very solid day for Palmer.

Week 7 - Palmer struggled to get on track early, missing receivers and making poor decisions, but rallied the Raiders to a win, finishing 26 for 46 with 298 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also added a rushing score and lost a fumble. Not the best performance, as he missed Denarius Moore down the field a few times early and tried a Brett Favre flip, which ended in a Derek Cox interception. He eventually got on track though, aided by trusty tight ends Brandon Myers and Marcel Reece, as well as hitting on a few big plays to Darrius Heyward-Bey and Rod Streater. His touchdown came in the third quarter on a short crossing route to Denarius Moore, with Moore diving into the end zone. Palmer narrowly missed another throwing score, as his pass tipped off the hands of Rod Streater in the back of the end zone. He spread the ball around quite a bit, targeting five receivers 6 times or more. They were in comeback mode for virtually the entire game, in addition to Darren McFadden struggling to get anything going on the ground, so his attempts were inflated. Additionally, the Raiders consistently went into the hurry up offense in the fourth quarter, which resulted in rapid movement of the ball. His TD plunge into the end zone came from 1 yard out, right after McFadden failed to get in going against 12 men on defense for the Jags.

Week 8 - Leading a balanced Raiders attack on the road, Palmer completed fourteen of his twenty-eight pass attempts for two hundred and nine yards. The veteran signal-caller was not exactly dazzling, but he did not need to be against a Chiefs team that needed a Garmin to find the end zone and turned the ball over a laughable four times, frequently giving the Raiders desirable field position. In a game that remained close due to both offenses’ inability to move the chains, Palmer steered the Raiders to a much-needed victory.

The Raiders kept a clean pocket for Palmer all day – he was never flushed out, never took a sack, and never had to extend a play with his legs. Offensive Coordinator Gregg Knapp mixed up Palmer’s pass attempts pretty well, with deep shots to Darrius Heyward-Bey and Denarius Moore, as well as swing passes and checkdowns to Darren McFadden and Brandon Myers. Palmer did look to keep his throws shorter more often than not, but did take a gamble on during the game’s first offensive play. Looking to put points up on the scoreboard early, Palmer heaved a deep ball down the left sideline in the direct of Darrius Heyward-Bey. Heyward-Bey broke off the route early, allowing Chiefs cornerback Stanford Routt to catch Palmer’s pass. Other than that interception, a mistake for which Palmer can hardly be blamed, the veteran quarterback had a solid, if unspectacular day. A quarter of his passing yards came on a bubble screen to Denarius Moore that the speedy receiver took downfield for fifty-eight yards. Palmer also threw up an end zone pass to Denarius Moore in which the sophomore receiver out-muscled Kansas City coverage for a nine-yard Raiders touchdown. Later in the game, Moore let another end zone pass slip through his hands. Palmer also gave Darrius Heyward-Bey an opportunity for vindication. Throwing a perfect strike to Heyward-Bey on a pass on a comeback route, the Maryland alum took it the house to put the Raiders up by fourteen points.

Overall, Palmer had a steady, if unremarkable day. The Raiders did not need him to be a world beater, and on a day in which it was imperative that feature back Darren McFadden get going in some manner, Palmer comfortably took a back seat, only starring in the game when necessary. It is likely that the Raiders defense will go back to its collapsible ways as the season wears on, and Palmer will open up the offense in comeback attempts for Oakland.


Week 9 - Carson Palmer's 400 yard day would never have come about if the Raiders hadn't completely abandoned the running game, but to wave off any praise because of that would be foolish. Palmer received little help from his teammates all day as he was constantly under pressure in the pocket, had no understanding with Denarius Moore and his tight ends repeatedly dropped catchable passes. Much of Palmer's yards came in check down plays to running backs and tight ends as they essentially replaced the running game with those types of offense. That said, Palmer made some excellent deep throws in the game also and would likely have had a big day either way as he appeared to be on point for most of the game. He threw three interceptions, but two of those came when the Raiders were desperately trying to get back into the game and the other was a miscommunication with Denarius Moore. Palmer is often the butt of many jokes, but his performance today was better than his statistics suggest, which is saying something because he did throw for four touchdowns and over 400 yards as well as those three turnovers.

Week 10 - Despite the lopsided defeat to the Ravens, Palmer played quite well. The Oakland offensive line protected Palmer for a majority of the game and, with a few exceptions; Palmer delivered accurate passes to his receivers. Outside of the three sacks, Palmer operated from a clean pocket and was able to work through his progressions. Palmer led the offense to 200 total yards in the first half and his lone mistake was a tipped ball at the line-of-scrimmage that ended up as an interception. He made big throws throughout the game, like a perfect strike to David Ausberry against single coverage deep down the sideline to convert an early-game third-and-long situation. Palmer had a great fantasy day with over 350 yards through the air and two touchdowns, but the day could have been quite a bit better. A promising early drive was halted by Palmer getting his foot stepped on by an offensive lineman on fourth-and-short. That drive stalled in Baltimore territory on the edge of field goal range. Later in the first half, one of Palmer’s rare misses came on third down in the red zone when he missed Brandon Myers wide open in the end zone. In the second half, on four separate occasions receivers misplayed well-thrown passes, two of which were on third down. Those plays alone cost Palmer and Raiders’ offense 50 or more yards of offense and the potential for more touchdowns. The Raiders were down early and big this week, but Palmer played well without Darren McFadden in the lineup.

Week 11 - What looked like a savory matchup for Carson Palmer and the Oakland Raider offense quickly went sour on Sunday. Palmer’s first throw of the game to Derek Hagan down the sideline, despite Hagan getting behind the coverage, was underthrown and nearly picked off by CB Patrick Robinson. After a holding penalty put the Raiders in 3rd and long, pressure forced a quick dump off to Rod Streater for an insignificant six yards. The Raiders’ 2nd drive was worse, as Palmer and the offense went three and out when pressure forced a severely underthrown ball to Denarius Moore over the middle. Palmer again found near trouble on the first play of the 3rd drive, as miscommunication between Palmer and intended receiver Moore had Palmer nearly throwing another INT. Moore ran a corner route and Palmer expected the WR to continue the route inside, skipping the pass just short of the collapsing safety. After two near INTs, Palmer finally connected with the Saints’ Malcolm Jenkins, who beat intended receiver Brandon Myers to the ball and took the INT 55 yards the other way for a TD. Struggling early, Palmer looked uncomfortable in the pocket after the INT, missing Darius Heyward-Bey badly on deep throw off play action. Again facing pressure the next play, Palmer slipped outside the pocket and found his safety valve in Myers for nine yards the first down. Going right back the play fake, Palmer faked the toss to Marcel Reece on the following play and rolled right. Working outside on his route, Moore was plenty open on the play, but again Palmer’s pass was wild as it sailed incomplete. Rookie WR Juron Criner made a nice catch on a pass that was behind him on 3rd down, saving the drive as again Palmer’s pass was well off target. The catch seemed to settle Palmer, who used the play fake on the following play and hit Hagan for 17 yards on a hitch. Two plays later, Reece, working off the line of scrimmage easily created separation on the quick out and Palmer put the ball right on Reece for the 20 yard pick up. Feeling the pressure of the Saints offense and a mounting deficit, Palmer used the QB sneak on 4th down to pick up a new set of downs at the New Orleans one-yard line. An offensive pass interference call set the Raiders back, however, and the penalty would hurt. After a quick shot to Reece for four yards, Palmer went to Myers, delivering a strike to the TE, but the pass went right through Myers’ hands and off his facemask straight into the air. Behind the play, Roman Harper easily caught the deflected pass for the INT. The drive took nearly nine minutes, but after attaining a first and goal at the one, the Raiders had nothing to show for it. The drive, however, clearly helped settle Palmer, who wasted little time marching back down the field on the following drive. Facing a 3rd and five, Palmer hit Reece on a quick out just beyond the sticks. Reece broke Harper’s tackle and was able to pick up 56 yards (the Raiders’ longest play of the day) before Jenkins finally pushed him out of bounds the Saint 20. Palmer again tried to connect with Moore on a fade, but Robinson snatched one of Moore’s arms and ultimately picked up an interference penalty giving the Raiders the ball on the one-yard line again. This time Palmer and Myers would not be denied, however, as Palmer booted right and waited (and waited) for Myers to spring open just inside the end zone. Palmer connected, getting Oakland on the board with the one-yard TD pass. With the offense still feeling the good vibrations from the first half, Palmer lead the Raiders on another scoring drive on their first possession of the 2nd half. Working off play action (as they did, successfully, all day Sunday), Palmer connected with Heyward-Bey for the first time on a 13-yard comeback. Palmer went back to Myers the following play, picking up six yards on the screen to the TE. After a sack and a penalty put the offense in 2nd and long, Palmer hit RB Jeremy Stewart on a swing pass, who turned the short pass into a nice catch and run for 23 yards. Palmer misfired on his next three throws, however, (including a poor drop by Streater that nearly was a fumble) forcing the offense to settle for a FG. A lightning quick three and out, with Palmer unable to even attempt a pass really felt like the Raiders’ last hoorah as the game was out of reach by the time the Raiders got the ball back. Much too little too late, Palmer made his first connection of the game with Moore the following drive. Moore ran a quick out and Palmer finally put the ball on the WR, picking up nine yards on the play. Moore was again open two plays later, but Palmer couldn’t get enough on the toss, skipping the ball well before it got to Moore. Criner saved another poor pass from Palmer the following play as Palmer threw high and behind Criner, but he made a nice catch coming up just short of the marker. With the game at hand and the coverage sagging, Palmer connected with Heyward-Bey for 18 and Myers for seven to open the next drive, but followed with three consecutive incompletions. Having one of those days, Palmer again missed Moore on 4th down, barely overthrowing Moore who had beat the coverage just missing what surely would have been a 44-yard TD pass. Facing that same soft coverage, Palmer worked right back up the field in garbage time, hitting Heyward-Bey on back-to-back throws for 38 yards. Palmer and Myers connected again, this time for 27 as Myers made a great leaping grab over the middle. After a strike to Streater for 20 yards, Palmer went to the same fade play to Criner on consecutive throws (the same play that earned the offensive pass interference in the first half) finally connecting for a three-yard TD on the Raiders’ final drive of the game. In the end, Palmer’s numbers weren’t bad statistically, but far from what the Raiders needed to pull off the upset. His early mistakes and lapse in confidence proved too much to overcome against a surging New Orleans team.

Week 12 - The Raiders offense, specifically the passing game, was slow to get started against Palmer’s former team. A microcosm of the first half was the first three drives. After two sacks killed the first two drives, Denarius Moore dropped a well-thrown Palmer pass on the next third down. The Raiders’ 18 total yards in the first quarter marked their fewest in nearly two years. The second quarter was hardly any better. Palmer was largely inaccurate outside of dump off passes and the Cincinnati defensive line applied ample pressure to nearly come away with more than the Bengals’ one turnover. Oakland barely made it into Cincinnati territory in the first half, totaling just 83 total yards and four plays on the edge of field goal range. After falling behind by three scores, Palmer found slightly more success but it was limited to a few isolated plays. His highlight throw came on a rainbow throw that Denarius Moore ran under for a beautiful touchdown, pulling Oakland to just a 24-10 deficit in the second half. Seemingly every pass to a contested receiver ended up a near interception or misplayed by Palmer’s target. The Oakland offensive line did little to help Palmer all day and his 34 attempts were his third lowest total of the season despite trailing almost from the opening kickoff. Palmer’s 146 passing yards were by far his lowest of the season and he threw an interception for the seventh straight week. Palmer remains a matchup play for fantasy owners without an elite quarterback option down the stretch. The problem is that Oakland has one of the more difficult closing slates for quarterbacks with his best matchup coming against Denver in Week 14.

Week 13 - Palmer has become the king of garbage time production and this week marked the seventh time in 12 games where he attempted 40+ passes. He struggled most of the game, but moved the length of the field, including a touchdown, when the Raiders trailed by 10 points with three minutes remaining. Early in the game, Palmer struggled with timing on throws to Denarius Moore, including two near interceptions. Two other deep targets to Moore were broken up by good defensive plays on the ball. The Raiders were lucky to be trailing only 10-3 at the half. Palmer used more no huddle in the third quarter, which gave the offense some much needed momentum to get back in the game. Palmer at one time in the third quarter completed 10 straight passes, but an ill-timed sack on third down killed a promising drive outside of field goal range. His rare highlight throw came late in the third quarter to Rod Streater down the seam. With tight coverage in tow, Palmer lofted the ball beautifully over the defensive back for the touchdown to close the gap to 13-10. The Browns controlled the clock in the fourth quarter leaving Palmer’s remaining production for the garbage touchdown driving in the closing minutes. Palmer found Brandon Myers in the end zone with one second remaining to cap his third-best fantasy day this season.

Week 14 - Following a perfect pass to Rod Streater over the safeties, Palmer underthrew a pass to Brandon Myers in the redzone. The ball went straight to Champ Bailey for the interception. Palmer was under no pressure and was trying to force the ball into a tight window. It was a poor decision, but an awful throw. Palmer's first touchdown pass wasn't a difficult one. In the redzone, Dennis Allen called a play like Greg Popovich would as he faked a screen to the right before running a second screen to the left for Darren McFadden to walk into the endzone. Palmer had made plenty of good plays, but turnovers continued to kill him. At his own goalline, Von Miller got to Palmer and bumped him rather than tackled him which caused Palmer to lose the football. Palmer appeared to lose it as he tried to bring it back from an attempted pass. To be fair to Palmer, whenever he was getting in a good rhythm and moving the Raiders down the field, Von Miller would just push Khalif Barnes out of his way and disrupt play after play.

Week 15 - Carson Palmer acted as more of a game manager against the Chiefs as the Raiders’ ground game took the pressure off him, asking him to make only simple reads and not turn the football over. He accomplished both goals, completing passes in rhythm to his receivers, notably Rod Streater. Palmer was inaccurate on some passes and admittedly, his receivers could have had more separation on such passes, but the Chiefs’ defense did an excellent job overall. Palmer gave his receivers chances to make plays downfield, especially a Denarius Moore post route, but that pass was broken up, along with many other downfield attempts. It is noteworthy that Terrelle Pryor stepped in for a three-play series in the first half.

Week 16 - Carson Palmer did not last long, as a devastating hit by DE Greg Hardy forced him out of the game with a rib injury.