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Since the inaugural NFL Draft in 1936, roughly 40% of #1 overall picks have been quarterbacks; this should not be surprising as for a basement-dwelling team, a franchise quarterback is perhaps the most important piece to turning around the team’s fortunes. Thus, for the New England Patriots in the early 1990s and the Cincinnati Bengals a decade later, they took signal-callers Drew Bledsoe and Carson Palmer, respectively, with the top picks in the draft. Though neither turned out to be a Hall of Famer like Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, or Peyton Manning (fellow #1 overall pick quarterbacks), both were prototypical big-bodied, strong-armed pocket passers who had long and productive NFL careers – given their similar draft status, playing style, and career accomplishments, it is a natural comparison to ask:
Who was better – Drew Bledsoe or Carson Palmer?
The Beginning
Bledsoe and Palmer both grew up on the West Coast and parlayed standout college careers into becoming #1 overall draft picks, though they were thrust into very different situations with their first NFL teams.
A native son of the Pacific Northwest, Bledsoe was a three-sport high school star (football, basketball, track and field) before deciding to stay local and play college football for Washington State. In three seasons with the Cougars, he became the starter as a true freshman and would go on to set single-season team passing records for completions and yards as a junior to earn Pacific-10 (Pac-10) Offensive Player of the Year and Second Team All-American honors. At the end of his standout junior season, Bledsoe declared early for the NFL Draft and was selected #1 overall by the Patriots in 1993; he started 12 games in his rookie season and completed 49.9% of his passes for 2,494 yards and 15 touchdowns vs. 15 interceptions (65.0 QB rating) while leading New England to a 5-7 record.
Meanwhile, Palmer spent his formative years in California and was groomed from a young age to play quarterback; as one of the most decorated high school quarterbacks ever at the time, he also stayed local to attend USC (where he would room with future Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu). After splitting time as a freshman, he became the Trojans’ starting quarterback as a sophomore, though suffered a broken collarbone early in the year and would redshirt. Pete Carroll took over as USC head coach in Palmer’s junior year and after an adjustment season, Palmer finally broke out as a fifth-year senior, passing for 3,942 yards and 33 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions to become the fifth USC player and first Trojans quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy; he also won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and was named Sporting News Player of the Year. Subsequently, Palmer was taken first overall in the 2003 NFL Draft by the Bengals; since Cincinnati already had a veteran quarterback in Jon Kitna, Palmer did not play a single snap his rookie year, instead sitting on the bench to learn behind Kitna.
Career Comparison
For nearly a decade apiece, Bledsoe and Palmer were the franchise quarterbacks for the teams that drafted them, before embarking on second acts with new teams.
In his second season in 1994, Bledsoe earned the first of four Pro Bowl selections by throwing for a league-high and career-best 4,555 yards (57.9% completion rate) with 25 touchdowns, though also a league-high and career-worst 27 interceptions, resulting in a 73.6 QB rating and a 10-6 record; notably, he set single-game records with 45 completions and 70 passing attempts in a game vs. the Minnesota Vikings. After regressing to only 13 touchdowns vs. 16 interceptions in 1995, Bledsoe rebounded with back-to-back Pro Bowl years:
- 1996: completed 59.9% of passes for 4,086 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions (83.7 QB rating) with an 11-5 record
- 1997: completed 60.2% of passes for 3,706 yards, a career-high 28 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions (87.7 QB rating) with a 10-6 record
Over the next few seasons, Bledsoe was solid, if unspectacular, throwing for 3,500-4,000 yards and around 20 touchdowns annually, though New England was essentially a .500 team. Moreover, despite struggling through a 5-11 2000 season, he inked a then-record 10 year contract extension for $103M; unfortunately, two games into the 2001 season, Bledsoe suffered a serious chest injury and was replaced by second-year quarterback Tom Brady – the rest, as they say, is history. With Brady leading the team to the Super Bowl title later that year and cementing himself as arguably the greatest quarterback ever over the next two decades, Bledsoe was traded to the division rival Buffalo Bills for a first-round draft pick and thus, given a new opportunity to start.
In his first year with the Bills, Bledsoe had his best season in years despite a middling 8-8 record – by throwing for 4,359 yards (on a 61.5% completion rate) with 24 touchdowns vs. 15 interceptions for a 86.0 QB rating, he made a final Pro Bowl. However, even though he never missed a start, Bledsoe struggled over the next couple of years, throwing for less than 3,000 yards each season with roughly a 1:1 touchdown-to-interception rate and quarterbacking Buffalo to basically a .500 record. Released after the 2004 season to make way for J.P. Losman, Bledsoe signed with the Dallas Cowboys to reunite with former Patriots coach Bill Parcells. Once again, he found success early on, leading the Cowboys to a 9-7 record in 2005 while completing 60.1% of his passes for 3,639 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions (83.7 QB rating). The next year he struggled through the first six games of the 2006 season before being benched in favor of a young Tony Romo; upon being released at the end of the season, the 34-year-old Bledsoe announced his retirement ahead of the 2007 NFL campaign.
As for Palmer, he took over as the Bengals quarterback in 2004 and had a solid year before breaking out in 2005 – throwing to star wideouts Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, he had 3,836 yards on a league-best 67.8% completion rate with a league-high 32 touchdowns vs. 12 interceptions for a 101.1 QB rating; moreover, Palmer led Cincinnati to an 11-5 record and made the Pro Bowl while being named a Second Team All-Pro. Despite suffering a major knee injury in the postseason, he recovered to put up another Pro Bowl season in 2006: 4,035 yards (62.3% completion rate) with 28 touchdowns vs. 13 interceptions for a 93.9 QB rating and an 8-8 record; this was followed by another 4,000-yard season in 2007 (4,131 passing yards), though he did lead the league with 20 interceptions. Four games into the 2008, Palmer once again suffered a major injury, this time a torn ligament and tendon in his elbow that caused him to miss the remainder of the season.
Coming off another serious injury, Palmer returned to action in 2009 with 3,094 passing yards on a 60.5% completion rate with 21 touchdowns vs. 13 interceptions (83.6 QB rating) and led the Bengals to a 10-6 record. Though he nearly reached 4,000 yards again in 2010 (3,970 yards), he again had 20 picks and the team faltered to 4-12; post the season, Palmer announced his intention to retire, but was instead traded to the Oakland Raiders for a 2012 first-round draft pick and a conditional 2013 second-round pick. Overall, Palmer’s tenure with the Raiders was disappointing (8-16 record in two seasons), though he did throw for 4,018 yards in 2012 with 22 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. Ahead of the 2013 season, he was dealt once again, this time to the Arizona Cardinals for a sixth-round pick in that year’s draft and a conditional pick the next year.
Out in the Arizona desert, Palmer was rejuvenated by a receiving corps led by Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald. In his first four seasons with the team, he threw for 4,000+ yards 3x (Palmer only played in six games in 2014 due to a torn ACL):
- 2013: 4,274 yards on 63.3% passing with 24 touchdowns and 22 interceptions for an 83.9 QB rating and a 10-6 record
- 2015: a career-high 4,671 yards on 63.7% passing with a career-high 35 touchdowns vs. only 11 interceptions for a career-best 104.6 QB rating and a 13-3 record; earned final Pro Bowl selection
- 2016: 4,233 yards on 61.0%) passing with 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions for an 87.2 QB rating and a 6-8-1 record
During his final season in 2017, Palmer was limited to only seven games played by a broken arm midway through the year and would retire at the conclusion of the campaign at age 38.
Ultimately, while Palmer played one more NFL season than Bledsoe, the latter actually has the advantage of a dozen regular season games – remember that the former essentially “redshirted” his rookie year and suffered a couple of season-ending injuries throughout his career. Nevertheless, Palmer holds the advantage in nearly every passing category: higher completion percentage, more yards, more touchdowns, fewer interceptions and a higher QB rating; however, it must be caveated that the passing game has flourished in the 21st century, with completion rates soaring above 60% and 4,000 passing yards being the new 3,000 yards as a benchmark. As such, Bledsoe actually leads Palmer in Pro Bowl selections (4x vs. 3x), though Palmer was a one-time Second Team All-Pro; comparing by season, both signal-callers had nine 3,000-yard seasons, but Palmer leads in 4,000-yard seasons (6x vs. 3x), as well as 20-touchdown (9 to 7) and 30-touchdown years (2 to 0). On a per game basis, Palmer not surprisingly has the numerical edge as well – he averaged 254 passing yards with 1.62 touchdowns vs. 1.03 interceptions per game over 182 regular season games vs. 230 passing yards with 1.29 touchdowns and 1.06 interceptions across 194 regular season games for Bledsoe. In terms of what this all meant for team success, both quarterbacks were roughly .500 (50.8% for Bledsoe and 51.1% for Palmer) with 90+ career wins apiece. All in all, while both former #1 picks had long and excellent careers, neither is likely worthy of the Hall of Fame.
Regular Season Statistics
| Drew Bledsoe | Player | Carson Palmer |
| 14 (1993-2006) | Seasons | 15 (2003-2017) |
| 194 | Games Played | 182 |
| 3,839 | Completions | 3,941 |
| 6,717 | Attempts | 6,307 |
| 44,611 | Passing Yards | 46,247 |
| 57.2% | Completion % | 62.5% |
| 251 | Passing Touchdowns | 294 |
| 206 | Interceptions | 187 |
| 77.1 | QB Rating | 87.9 |
| 98-95 (50.8%) | Starting QB Record | 92-88-1 (51.1%) |
| 4x | Pro Bowls | 3x |
| – | All-Pro | – |
| – | MVP | – |
| 1x | Super Bowls | – |
| – | Other Awards | – |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Though Palmer put up more prolific regular season passing numbers during his career, Bledsoe had far more postseason success, making one Super Bowl and winning another as a backup.
All four of Bledsoe’s playoff trips came with New England, highlighted by a 1996 season in which he took the team all the way to Super Bowl XXXI vs. Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers; however, he struggled in the 35-21 loss, completing 25 of 48 passes for 253 yards with 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Half a decade later, despite losing the starting job to Brady early in the season, Bledsoe came on in relief for an injured Brady in the 2001 AFC Championship Game vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and passed for 102 yards and a touchdown to guide the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXVI; subsequently, New England would upset league MVP Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams 20-17 for their first of many titles, though it would be Bledsoe’s only championship with the team.
In contrast, Palmer led the Bengals to two postseason appearances (both losses), suffering a gruesome knee injury in 2005 that nearly ended his career. During his stint with the Cardinals, he won his only playoff game in 2015, beating the Green Bay Packers 26-20 in the Divisional Round and out-dueling Aaron Rodgers with 349 passing yards (25 of 41) for 3 touchdowns and interceptions; however, Arizona was then crushed 49-15 by Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Conference Championship.
Playoff Statistics
| Drew Bledsoe | Player | Carson Palmer |
| 7 | Games Played | 4 |
| 129 | Completions | 67 |
| 252 | Attempts | 118 |
| 1,335 | Passing Yards | 796 |
| 51.2% | Completion % | 56.8% |
| 6 | Passing Touchdowns | 5 |
| 12 | Interceptions | 7 |
| 54.9 | QB Rating | 66.9 |
| 3-3 (50.0%) | Starting QB Record | 1-3 (25.0%) |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; Bledsoe and Palmer had similar career arcs – both were outstanding for their original teams before switching uniforms and finding additional success elsewhere. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Drew Bledsoe | Player | Carson Palmer |
| 1994-2000, 2002, 2004-2005 | Decade of Dominance | 2004-2007, 2009-2010, 2012-2013, 2015-2016 |
| 157 | Games Played | 155 |
| 3,221 | Completions | 3,362 |
| 5,582 | Attempts | 5,359 |
| 37,693 | Passing Yards | 39,159 |
| 57.7% | Completion % | 62.7% |
| 216 | Passing Touchdowns | 258 |
| 169 | Interceptions | 157 |
| 78.6 | QB Rating | 88.7 |
| 84-73 (53.5%) | Starting QB Record | 79-75-1 (51.3%) |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
The decades of dominance tell a similar story for Bledsoe and Palmer – statistically, Palmer was the better quarterback (and a beneficiary of a more pass-happy era), but Bledsoe’s teams were actually slightly better in this timeframe.
My Thoughts
In hindsight, Drew Bledsoe and Carson Palmer are probably best-remembered for things besides their actual NFL playing careers and accomplishments; instead, Bledsoe will forever be remembered as the quarterback Tom Brady replaced, while Palmer’s greatest legacy is perhaps beginning a pipeline of standout USC quarterbacks who went on to the NFL (with varying professional success), e.g. Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, Sam Darnold, etc. Having said that, at the time, each player embodied what teams were looking for in a franchise quarterback and #1 overall pick: a big, traditional pocket passer (both were 6’5”) with a rocket arm. Both were up-and-down with the teams that initially drafted them (Patriots and Bengals, respectively), at times playing at a Pro Bowl level and at other times struggling or dealing with injuries, with Palmer putting up slightly better overall numbers, in part due to playing in a more aerially-conducive era. However, I think what gives Palmer the edge over Bledsoe is that he was able to better re-invent himself in a new environment – Bledsoe had a good first year in Buffalo, but was relatively average for the rest of his career, whereas Palmer arguably had some of his best overall years in the second half of his playing days with the Cardinals.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Carson Palmer
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
- Does Carson Palmer belong in the Hall of Fame or merely the Hall of Very Good? – The Washington Post
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