The Oakland Raiders were hoping they would have to wait a bit longer before hearing Ron Jaworski discuss the man they traded a first and second round pick for last season. Jaworski is in the process of listing who he sees as the top 30 quarterbacks in the NFL, giving his thoughts on a new quarterback every day.
On Wednesday, Carson Palmer was named as the 21st best quarterback in the NFL. Take a look at what Jaws had to say about Palmer, good and bad, after the jump.
At one time, Carson Palmer was one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL. But after injuries, hold outs and a rocky start to his stint with the Silver and Black, many question whether or not he can ever get back to the QB he once was.
In his review of Palmer, Jaws started by talking about all of the positives he brings to the position. He noted Palmer's strong arm and accuracy as he showed clips of Palmer fitting the ball into tight windows down field. But what makes Palmer special, according to Jaws, is also what can get him in trouble at times. Palmer is willing to pull the trigger when other quarterbacks would move onto the next receiver in their progression. While making those kinds of throws is risky, it is also the way you get big time plays. Palmer has the ability to make huge plays with his rare combination of strength and accuracy.
The problem, according to Jaws, is that when you look at Palmer's interceptions, they are thrown for a number of reasons. Some were mis-throws to open receivers, some were poor decisions, some were throwing the ball too quickly because of pressure from the defensive pass rush. Palmer is a high risk, high reward quarterback who in recent years has been more risk than reward.
With all of that being said, Palmer is being given the chance to completely change the way he is seen. Palmer probably has more talent surrounding him this season than he has at any other point in his career. He has never had a running back capable of dominating like Darren McFadden, and has never had guys with the blazing speed and big play potential of Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford. Added to those weapons, Palmer has Darrius Heyward-Bey who re-invented himself last season as more of a possession receiver with big play potential, and a fullback in Marcel Reece who creates mis-matches and has deceiving speed. Palmer will likely still throw a lot of interceptions, but with weapons like these, he has the change to throw a whole lot more touchdowns.
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