Is Carson Palmer a top five QB?

by | Oct 27, 2015

If it weren’t for some ugly injuries in his career, Carson Palmer could be considered an elite NFL quarterback.

This year, however, Palmer has been healthy while some top quarterbacks have gone down. This has caused a shift in the upper class of NFL quarterbacks and it’s made Palmer, for now, one of the top five.

Statistically, there’s no arguing that Palmer is one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL this season. Not only has he led the Cardinals to a 5-2 record and first place in the NFC West, but he’s tied with Tom Brady for the league league with 16 touchdown passes. He’s third in passing yards with 2,012 and his passer rating of 108.9 is fifth among starting quarterbacks.

Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are clearly the NFL’s top two quarterbacks. In recent years Peyton Manning and Drew Brees were right up there with them and made the top five pretty much impenetrable. But injuries have lowered Brees’ stock as well as Andrew Luck’s, and the aging Manning is tied with Sam Bradford with a league-high 10 interceptions.

That has left room for Palmer, Andy Dalton, Matt Ryan and Philip Rivers to claim spots in the top five. Dalton has thrown 14 touchdown passes and just two interceptions for the 6-0 Bengals. Ryan has only nine touchdown passes and six interceptions. But he’s thrown for 2,002 yards and he’s 6-1. Rivers hasn’t been winning but he has the numbers, leading the league with 2,452 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Palmer’s been putting up numbers and he’s been winning. So either by removing Ryan because of his so-so stats or Rivers because of the Chargers’ 2-5 record, Palmer deserves a spot somewhere among the league’s top five quarterbacks this week.

Don’t forget that he led the Cardinals to a 6-0 start before his ACL tear last season.

Palmer might have to return to the top five’s waiting room, however, if Ben Roethlisberger picks up where he left off. Roethlisberger has missed four games but is likely to return from his knee injury against the Bengals Sunday in Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger had completed 75.3 percent of his passes before he went down.

In terms of career-long achievement, Palmer has a little work to do before he merits top-five consideration. Quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco and Eli Manning enter the debate if someone is asked which quarterback they’d want if they needed to win one game.

Part of the reason for this is that Palmer hasn’t been to a playoff game in six years. His knee was torn up in a 2005 wild-card loss to the Steelers and the Jets bounced the Bengals in a 2009 wild-card game. Palmer spent two years in Oakland, which didn’t help him stay on the map, but is 21-8 so far as the Cardinals’ starting quarterback.

Adding a playoff win or two to his resume could put Palmer’s name on a few more top-five lists.