For the last few seasons, most fantasy football players have avoided taking anyone on the Arizona Cardinals not named Larry Fitzgerald. Last season even he struggled. But with new coach Bruce Arians and his love for offensive football, it is hard to pass up a few players on the Cardinals roster.
One player fantasy player you should not be shy from is quarterback Carson Palmer. At 33 years of age, Palmer is no spring chicken, but he can still get the job done. Last season with an abysmal team, he threw for over 4000 yards and 22 touchdowns. Palmer will exceed that production this season, and he has a chance to be a top 12 fantasy quarterback. Coach Arians will maximize Palmer’s strengths, which means he will throw to one of the better wide receivers in the NFL at least a dozen times per game.
Carson Palmer has completed 62.5 percent of his passes in his career, and thrown for just under 30,000 yards. He knows how to get the job done, and with a change of scenery there is no reason why he cannot return to being one of the better quarterbacks in fantasy football. Expect the Cardinals to throw the ball at least 30 times a game, giving Palmer every opportunity to accumulate fantasy points.
In standard leagues it is not absurd to think the former USC Trojan will be one of the last quarterbacks drafted, but make sure you are the team that gets him. Carson Palmer is the epitome of a low risk/high reward player this season as his ADP (average draft position) currently sits at 11.06 (the sixth pick in the 11th round). Take Palmer around that time or even earlier and comfortably take in what promises to be a productive season.
Expect Palmer to throw for around 4200 yards and 23 to 27 touchdowns, putting him at roughly 270 fantasy points. By comparison in the same scoring system, Aaron Rodgers amassed 328 points last season for a difference of 58 fantasy points. It seems like a lot, but since Rodgers is going in the first few rounds, it puts things in perspective, if you wait ten more rounds for Palmer; he is only going to get you 60 less points over the course of 16 weeks. If you did the math that is just 3.75 points per week, so a late round flier on Carson Palmer is well worth it.