One of the biggest question marks heading into the season is Bengals QB Carson Palmer. If healthy, Palmer probably deserves to be the second QB off the board (behind Peyton Manning, of course), but at the very least his talent makes him a top-three guy, depending on how you view Tom Brady. But Palmer’s postseason knee injury makes his draft prospects a bit tough to gauge. Questions remain about just how healthy he’ll be this season following extensive reconstructive surgery to repair two torn knee ligaments and a dislocated kneecap, and even more doubts surround his ability to take the field week 1 against the Chiefs.
Well, the news that the Bengals have ramped up Palmer’s practice workload is certainly promising for his fantasy owners as well as Bengals fans the world over (yes, we believe there are some outside of Cincinnati):
The move came after Palmer publicly lobbied for more snaps, and privately implored coach Marvin Lewis to give him more work. It also came after a weekend in which Cincinnati coaches and executives huddled with doctors and trainers to review the status of Palmer’s rehabilitation.
The result: Palmer, who took only about 40 percent of the repetitions with the first-unit offense during the opening week of camp, logged roughly 70-80 percent of the Monday practice snaps. That level of activity is expected to continue through this week, unless Palmer has a setback, which is not anticipated.
“He feels like the more snaps he gets, the better he feels,” Lewis said. “We told him to wait until the second week and see how he felt and got through the first week. Now we can begin to ratchet up the snaps. He can get them when he’s on the field. When he’s not out there, [backups Anthony Wright and Doug Johnson)]can go back and kind of split it.”
Of course, this news still doesn’t guarantee that he’ll be ready for the Chiefs September 10, but the chances appear to be improving by the week.
So what does this all mean for Palmer’s fantasy stock? Well, not much, I’d say. He’s still a risky bet as the second or third QB, but it’s a bet that could certainly pay off for whoever decides to roll the dice on him. Personally, I’m not touching Palmer this season unless he really slips, but that has more to do with my own draft strategy than it does with Palmer’s recovery. With so many quality starters available in the middle rounds, nabbing Palmer in the third or fourth isn’t all that appealing to me. But I’m not taking Brady there either, nor would I draft Peyton in the first round.
All of that said, if you’re intent on taking a quarterback early, the odds of Palmer being an elite fantasy QB this season are better today than they were yesterday.
