Carson Palmer; Fantasy’s Secret Weapon

Aug 28, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) throws the ball prior to the game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Fans of the Arizona Cardinals know all about Carson Palmer by now. But as we arrive at the most popular week of the year, for drafting of fantasy football teams, (I have been involved in 3 over the weekend myself), I’ll tell you one thing, Carson Palmer is a valuable option to have on your team.

Fantasy Football experts….and I do wonder what makes them experts….. will tell you have to get running backs early and draft wide receivers before even considering taking a QB.  That advice may be good if everybody in your league plays by the same theories.  The same experts will tell you it is all about Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, and Matthew Stafford as the top quarterbacks. But there are other value picks like Andrew Luck, and Russell Wilson, that you can select in later rounds.

There are flaws with all of the quarterbacks experts rave about. Manning is one big hit away from retirement, Brees has been great in previous years for Fantasy Football, no doubt, but it appears Sean Payton wants to utilize the run game. Rodgers difficult to argue with, but he struggled with health issues last year. After he went down, Eddie Lacey took over the offense, it was spectacular. The Packers will look to run more this season. Newton has been injured nearly all preseason and has very little receiving options outside of the rookie Kelvin Benjamin. Stafford has a strong arm but is prone to throwing picks.

NFL.com’s senior analyst, Gil Brandt  has predicted that there will be a quarterback with over 5,000 plus yard passing season. Any guesses? Not Payton Manning, not Drew Brees but Carson Palmer.