Carson Palmer went to three Pro Bowls, so you have to think that he has a pretty decent grasp on what makes a good quarterback.
So, it is totally justified to ask the former Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals gunslinger his take on who the most talented quarterback in football is right now.
Palmer was asked just that on CBS Radio’s “Tiki and Tierney Show,” on Wednesday. Initially, Palmer pointed to Patrick Mahomes, then he pivoted just a bit.
“But I think with my own eyes, the most talented quarterback that I’ve ever seen and just doesn’t get his just due, and it’s somebody that probably a lot of people wouldn’t put at the top of their list, but Matthew Stafford,” Palmer said, as transcribed by 971theticket.radio.com in Detroit.
“I think Matthew Stafford has more talent than most of the quarterbacks in the league not named Aaron Rodgers and Mahomes, but he plays for Detroit,” Palmer said. “The quarterback situation is so circumstantial, it’s so based on the organization. If you play for a good organization, you’re going to have a very, very successful career. If you play for a bad organization, it’s turnover and change and firing coaches and firing GM’s.”
Kind of hard to ignore the fact that Palmer essentially rules out Tom Brady because he plays for a good organization.
“Matthew Stafford has played for Detroit for too long and nobody knows he’s as good as he is because they don’t play on Monday Night Football multiple times a year and they don’t play a bunch on Sunday Night Football.”
Palmer is not wrong to point out the difficult situation Stafford has spent his career in, having gone through four head coaches and four offensive coordinators in his 11 seasons. He has played in just three playoff games and has lost all of them (despite a 87.8 QBR in those games).
“They’re just an organization that’s kind of been trying to find their way throughout his career, and Barry Sanders’ career, and Calvin Johnson’s career,” Palmer said. “But as far as talent’s concerned, he’s got more arm talent than 95 percent of the league, he’s got great feet, he’s mobile, he’s really smart, he’s extremely tough. But nobody knows about it because he plays for the Lions.”
We’ll agree that Stafford has been underrated throughout his career because of who he plays for, but we’re not sure that he belongs in that top five conversation.
