Cardinals QB Carson Palmer can relate to Jared Goff
By Alden Gonzalez

[www.espn.com]

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer was the No. 1 overall pick out of USC, selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003.

He didn't play a single snap in the NFL that season.

What followed Palmer was a slew of quarterbacks taken No. 1 overall and immediately entrusted with an offense, guys like Eli Manning, Alex Smith, Matthew Stafford, Sam Bradford, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston. Jared Goff, in many ways, is an exception. The Los Angeles Rams and Jeff Fisher are letting him develop off to the side, just like Marvin Lewis did with Palmer 13 years ago.

Palmer believes there is a lot to be gained from that.

"You have a chance to watch how you prepare as a starter, how you go about your business as a starter," he said. "Especially if you're coming from a very non-pro-style offense, seeing how offenses prepare, seeing the different pressures you're going to see and the different defenses you're going to see. And if you're not ready, it's tough. If you're not ready and you get thrown in there, if you struggle, it can linger."

Palmer won a Heisman Trophy at USC, but sat behind Jon Kitna for a Bengals team that finished that 2003 season 8-8. Goff sits behind Case Keenum, who sports the lowest Total QBR among 31 qualified quarterbacks despite playing adequately over the last two weeks, going a combined 32-of-56 for 429 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Inexperienced quarterbacks are succeeding all over the NFL, and four of the quarterbacks selected after Goff have already started games for their respective teams. That includes Carson Wentz -- who was taken second by the Philadelphia Eagles and has thrown five touchdowns without an interception -- and Dak Prescott, the 135th overall pick who has the NFL's second-best Total QBR.

Fisher pointed to the fact that all four of those rookie quarterbacks -- Wentz, Prescott, Jacoby Brissett of the New England Patriots and Cody Kessler of the Cleveland Browns -- would be on the bench if not for the injuries suffered by others.

"I'm happy for young quarterbacks when they have success, but we have our own sense of timing here with him," Fisher said of Goff.

"There's such a fine line between throwing a guy in there and making him play ... and he knows he's going to go in and struggle because the team's not good, like some guys have been," said Palmer, whose Cardinals host the Rams on Sunday. "The Rams are different. That's a very good team; they don't need to throw a rookie in there and him learn on the run and the team suffer. They've got a veteran that has their team at the top of the division.

"I just think every situation is so different, every team is so different, every organization is so different. The head coach makes the decision what's best for the team and, obviously, he thinks it's best for the team for Jared to sit and watch and learn."