Arizona Cardinals: Full Position Breakdown & Depth Chart Analysis at Quarterback

Last season, the Arizona Cardinals lost the top two quarterbacks on their depth chart to injury, yet they somehow still managed to produce their best regular-season record of the 16-game era. 

Unfortunately, last year's 11-5 record wasn't quite good enough to earn a first-round bye or home-field advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. Even worse, third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley proved to be a liability down the stretch, as the Cardinals dropped the final two games of the regular season and lost to the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers 27-16 in the Wild Card Round.

The end of Arizona's 2014 season is a classic example of why talent and depth at the quarterback position is so important in today's NFL. Of course, losing the top two passers on the depth chart is a relative rarity, and the Cardinals are still fairly set at the position, as we will discuss.

The Starter

Carson Palmer was drafted first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals all the way back in 2003. A former Heisman Trophy winner and USC standout, Palmer entered the league with the kind of size (currently listed at 6'5", 235 lbs), field vision and arm talent that can take a team to the Super Bowl.

	NFL Exp.	W-L	Career Rating
Carson Palmer	13	70-75	86.3
Drew Stanton	7	7-5	71.8
Chandler Harnish	2	0-0	N/A
Logan Thomas	1	0-0	101.6

After eight years, two opening-round playoff losses and a severe ACL tear, however, Palmer was replaced by quarterback Andy Dalton and shipped to the Oakland Raiders for a pair of draft picks.

After two mostly forgotten seasons in Oakland, Palmer was traded to the Cardinals, where he experienced a bit of a resurgence under head coach Bruce Arians.

In his first season in Arizona, Palmer threw for 4,274 yards and 24 touchdowns while helping the Cardinals achieve a 10-6 record. 

Palmer has proven that he still has the vision, patience and arm strength to perform as a top-level quarterback, especially in Arians' system. In his Arizona career, Palmer has a combined 16-6 win-loss record.

These are all reasons why the Cardinals agreed to give Palmer a new three-year, $49.5 million extension in 2014. Though Palmer is entering the twilight of his career at 35 years old, he appears to have enough left in the tank to get Arizona over the hump and into legitimate contention.

The downside with Palmer is that he is coming off an injury-plagued season that included the second major knee injury of his career. He appeared in just six games a season ago and is still not back to 100 percent on the practice field.

Palmer is, however, well enough to get in some time with his teammates early this offseason.

"I'm not afraid if he doesn't get out here as long as he's throwing 7-on-7," Arians recently said of Palmer, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. "I know he can hand it off. He does all the bootleg drills in warm ups so the rest of it he can handle. The 7-on-7, we blitz enough in that and we give him enough looks so he's getting prepared."

As long as there are no injury setbacks, Palmer should be the unquestioned starter for Week 1. There is a reason he has lasted in the NFL for 12 seasons and has passed for more than 35,000 yards in that span. Palmer has top-15 talent.

The trick will be keeping Palmer upright and uninjured throughout the regular season. The Cardinals ranked just 23rd in pass protection last season, according to Pro Football Focus, and Palmer isn't an exceptionally mobile passer.

If Palmer can produce a full 16-game season, he should have little trouble surpassing the 4,000-yard mark once again, and the Cardinals should be playoff-bound.

The Backup

Like Palmer, journeyman quarterback Drew Stanton entered the league as a relatively high draft pick. The Michigan State product was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2007 draft.

Unlike Palmer, however, Stanton never really garnered high expectations in the NFL, especially after knee surgery ended his rookie campaign before it even began.

Stanton spent four seasons as a backup in Detroit before joining Arians with the Indianapolis Colts in 2012. He followed Arians to Arizona the following season and finally got an opportunity to prove his worth in 2014.

With Palmer injured, Stanton stepped in and went 5-3 as a starter (6-3 overall) for the Cardinals in 2014. Had he not suffered a season-ending MCL sprain in late December, Arizona may well have made a much deeper postseason run.

This isn't to suggest that Stanton is a starting-caliber quarterback who can challenge Palmer for the No. 1 job. He isn't. His career passer rating of 71.8 suggests as much. 

However, Stanton is talented and experienced enough to give a team with Arizona's overall talent a chance to win if he is called upon. 

Stanton has one year remaining on his current contract and should be the No. 2 quarterback in 2015.

The Developmental Prospect

The Cardinals selected Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas in the fourth round of last year's draft. Though Thomas has great size (6'6", 250 lbs) and intriguing attributes, he is an unfinished product and failed to see meaningful action as a rookie, even after Lindley struggled to hold down the starting job. 

Thomas is a guy whom the Cardinals are likely to keep around to develop for the future. Though he is raw by NFL standards, he is a tall, athletic (ran a 4.61-second 40-yard dash at the 2014 scouting combine) and strong-armed project who could eventually develop into something special.

In his final season at Virginia Tech, Thomas passed for 2,907 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 334 yards and four more scores. His passer rating that season was an impressive 123.9.

Thomas has three years remaining on his rookie contract and will probably remain with the team this season, though he is unlikely to see extended playing time once again. 

The Wild Card

Earlier this offseason, the Cardinals signed veteran Chandler Harnish to a one-year contract.

Harnish is probably best known as Mr. Irrelevant 2012 (the final pick of that year's draft), though his time with the Colts that year likely puts him in a different light with Arians.

With Palmer still in recovery, Harnish at least provides another arm for offseason workouts. However, the Northern Illinois product should be considered a long shot to make the final 53-man roster.

Unless Thomas falls flat on his face in training camp, he will likely remain the team's No. 3 quarterback with Palmer as the starter and Stanton as his backup. This should give Arizona a talented starter, a capable backup and a promising project with upside to carry into the 2015 season.