Fantasy Football: Can Carson Palmer Be a QB1?

Carson Palmer threw for 414 yards and four touchdowns in Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay. The Raiders were playing from behind and he attempted 61 passes. It was the third time that Palmer threw for at least 350 yards this year.

Unfortunately, he also tossed three interceptions. He had a nice fantasy score today, but can he be considered a QB1?

He also has games of 297 and 298 yards, meaning that in five of eight games, he has basically thrown for 300 yards.

Now, Palmer is on pace to throw for 4,710 yards. Very impressive. Unfortunately, his touchdown passes have not come as easy.

Palmer has three games with multiple touchdown passes. He has four games with one touchdown and failed to throw for a score in the other game. Sunday's four-score game puts him on pace for 26 touchdowns on the year.

He has also ran for a score, but he has just seven rushing scores in his career and has never reached 100 rushing yards in a season.

The other aspect that was working in his favor was his lack of interceptions.

Palmer had thrown just five picks through the first seven games. He tossed three Sunday to put him on pace for 16 interceptions on the year.

Considering it was his first game with multiple picks, I wouldn’t worry too much about this week's game.

The Raiders do have some solid matchups coming up starting with Baltimore next week. In Week 11, he will definitely find his way into fantasy lineups as the Raiders take on the Saints. Then he faces Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Kansas City and Carolina.

With Denarius Moore, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Brandon Myers, among others, Palmer has some solid  weapons. They aren’t elite, but they are decent.

There are plenty of good quarterbacks in the league so I wouldn’t want him as my No.1 option. That said, he’s been plenty good enough to be a solid QB2.

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