Which Carson Palmer Will Show Up In Oakland?

by Jason Comack

The Raiders today traded a first round pick in 2012 and a conditional second round pick in 2013 for Carson Palmer.

Let's separate fact from fiction:

Carson Palmer suffered serious knee injury in 2006 : Fact

Carson Palmer changed his mechanics after the knee injury in 2006 leading to his elbow/shoulder injury that caused him to miss most of the 2008 season : Fact

Although he claimed to be healthy Palmer was never the same after the 2006 season. Posting decent cumulative numbers but with very few on field results. : Fact

Carson Palmer hasn't won a playoff game. Therefore he isn't a good QB. : Fiction.

Carson Palmer is 32 and will start declining due to age. : Fiction

Carson Palmer had his best season when Hue Jackson was wide receiver coach of the Bengals (04'-'06): Fact

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's clear the Oakland Raiders overpaid for Carson Palmer. They could have had Matt Flynn, Kyle Orton, Josh Johnson, Vince Young or any other QB slightly better then Kyle Boller for significantly less.

Instead in true Raider fashion they swung for the fences.

The question is which Carson Palmer do the Raiders get.

Do they get the guy, who in 2006 everyone thought would be mentioned in the same breath as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady for the rest of the decade? Or, do they get the guy who never fully recovered from injuries.

If the latter is true this will go down as one of the worst trades in the history of the NFL.

However, Carson Palmer is set up for success in Oakland.

Palmer has a very good offensive line (lead by the criminally underrated Jared Veldheer) to block for him. He has one of the best running backs (and explosive play makers) in the NFL in Darren McFadden. He also has what's quietly become a very fast and dangerous wide receiving core. Ford, Moore and Heyward-Bay all have the ability to stretch the field and run a true vertical passing offense.

The vertical passing offense is what made Palmer so successful in Cincinnati. Palmer learned the offense from QB coach Ken Zampese which is based on Norv Turners vertical offense (think Phillip Rivers) and very similar to what Hue Jackson's offense in Oakland now resembles.

This trade is obviously a steal for Cincinnati. They acquired high picks for a guy they expected to keep on the shelf for his shelf life.

But it's not a bomb for Oakland. At least not yet.

Like what you see? Read Jason on ProSportsBlogging.com ,you can also hear him every Monday and Thursday on the Sportswire from 6-7 on 88.1 FM and WCWPSports.com . Follow him on twitter at J_Comack