Still, Sunday’s performance gave us an awful lot to digest as he showed flashes of brilliance peppered with moments of madness.

Here is the good, the bad and the ugly of Carson Palmer thus far.

The Good

Ummm…did you see his strike to Marcel Reece? Calling that throw good is an insult. It was great…beyond great in fact. The type of throw only a handful of men currently playing the game would have either the stones or skill to make. To be sure Palmer had no business trying to zip one into tight coverage in the middle of the field. Hell, if it were any other fullback besides Reece the freak you might want to give your QB a brain scan at the end of the game.

But that is what makes Palmer’s good so much better than many others. The greats have to take chances. This is big boy football and winning takes more than playing it safe. You have to take large risks in order to reap high rewards.

Something else that is telling of Palmer’s talent is how he’s already utilizing his weapons without knowing any of them. Jacoby Ford can ball…we knew this. But one game with Palmer throwing to him and you see all of Ford’s talent come into focus.
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Noticeably absent from the names listed above is, of course, Nnamdi Asomugha. The combination of a convoluted contract married with a labor stoppage has created a free agency limbo in which football’s best cover corner currently resides.

Imagining a future without Asomugha Island is hard to digest. Let’s not even mention how rarely opposing QBs even look his way. One of the bigger voids left by Aso’s potential departure would be in the locker room and in the community.

Few players in modern sports are truly role models. Nnamdi is that rare athlete as his athletic prowess is matched only by his charitable work.

Losing Nnamdi is more than just losing an All-Pro. He’s also the best possible face of the franchise and has been a pillar of the community. There is no way to replace him.
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There has been plenty of talk during this extended off-season about the Raiders making the move to a 3-4. Unless they draft wisely or by some miracle actually get to sign free agents, then that seems highly unlikely given the current personnel. Sure, plenty of the recent additions have been of the OLB/DE hybrid variety. But given the amount of money invested in the defensive line and the fact that there just isn’t the depth at linebacker, it would seem a move to be made at a later time.

The linebacking core wasn’t exactly a strength last year though there were plenty of key contributions throughout the season.

Kamerion Wimbley arrived in the East Bay as a Cleveland castoff. He emerged as a pass rushing dynamo with a $10-million franchise tag. Wimbley’s presence helped revitalize a defense that had been without a consistent pass rusher since the decline and subsequent departure of Derrick Burgess.

If the Raiders have any designs on making the move to a 3-4 then they’re going to need more guys like Wimbley who are as comfortable standing as they are getting down into a three-point stance. Wimbley might not be one of the better assets against the run but that’s where Rolando McClain comes in.
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