MMQB’s Andy Benoit ranks Arizona Cardinals QB Carson Palmer in top half of NFL starters

In the weeks in between the end of NFL mini-camps and the opening of training camps, most of the league’s non-crime news is generated from lists and rankings.

Andy Benoit of MMQB.com has contributed to the water cooler talk by ranking all 32 projected 2015 starting quarterbacks.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, often ranked by others in the 20s, got a pretty high mark from Benoit, who put the 13th-year veteran at No. 14.

Could be lethal in Year 3 under Bruce Arians, especially given the personnel improvements around him.

The Cardinals did invest plenty in protecting Palmer this season after he went down with a devastating knee injury in Week 9 against St. Louis last November. Arizona doled out $22.5 million in guaranteed money to former San Francisco guard Mike Iupati, then used their first-round draft pick on Florida tackle D.J. Humphries.

Palmer was outstanding in 2014 before the injury, completing almost 63 percent of his passes for 1,626 yards and 11 touchdowns against only three interceptions.

Arizona was 8-1 when Palmer was ruled out for the season.

The quarterbacks who ranked ahead of the Cardinals’ signal caller were (in order): New England’s Tom Brady, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck, Denver’s Peyton Manning, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, San Diego’s Philip Rivers, New Orleans’ Drew Brees, Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, Dallas’ Tony Romo, the Giants’ Eli Manning, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford.