Yahoo! Sports writer: Arizona Cardinals QB situation in NFL’s bottom 10
May 18, 2015, 2:55 PM | Updated: 2:55 pm
Part of the excitement over the Arizona Cardinals’ prospects heading into the 2015 season is based on the return of quarterback Carson Palmer.
Last season, he threw for 1,626 yards and 11 touchdowns with just three interceptions, as the Cardinals were a perfect 6-0 in games he started.
The only problem was he started only six games due to a couple of different injuries, the most severe of which was a torn ACL suffered on November 9.
Back in March, Palmer discussed his rehab, speaking positively about how his recovery was going.
And just a couple weeks ago he joined the rest of the Cardinals’ starters on the field for Phase 2 of their offseason workouts.
By all accounts, Palmer appears to be on track to be ready for this upcoming season, with goals of picking up pretty much where he left off. If he can do that, the Cardinals would have themselves a a pretty good option at the position.
At least, you’d think.
Over at Yahoo! Sports, writer Patrick Daugherty disagrees. In a piece ranking the NFL’s QB situations, he has the Cardinals at No. 25, behind teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders and Chicago Bears.
Carson Palmer’s 2014 began with a shoulder injury and ended with a torn ACL. In between were six dynamite starts, but Palmer’s doomsday clock is ticking. Palmer is a crumbling statue who can’t be counted on to stay healthy for 16 games. That’s the bad news. The really bad news is that there are no reinforcements behind him. Drew Stanton is a pick-happy journeyman, and Logan Thomas was so shaky as a rookie that his practices got him benched. Palmer will keep the Cardinals competitive when he’s on the field, but quarterback is looking like the Achilles’ heel for an otherwise ascendant team.
Seems a little harsh, no?
While Palmer is no spring chicken at 35, it’s a bit unfair to say he cannot be counted on to stay healthy for 16 games. After all, he did not miss a single snap in 2013, and has generally proven to be one of the league’s more durable passers.
As for what’s behind Palmer, Stanton proved to be a very capable replacement in nine games last season, throwing for 1,711 yards and seven touchdowns with five interceptions while keeping Arizona afloat and in the playoff race. And Thomas, who was drafted in the fourth round as a developmental prospect, proved to be exactly that.
As of now, along with those three, the Cardinals also have quarterbacks Chandler Harnish and Phillip Sims on the roster, though neither has thrown a pass in the NFL.
