ESPN writer: Carson Palmer a top 10 NFL player in 2015

Despite his performance in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, it was still a pretty successful year for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer.

Palmer finished the season with career highs in yardage (4,671) and touchdowns (35) while at the same time setting franchise marks in both of those categories. Palmer’s year also transcended to the Cardinals team, who captured a franchise-best 13 wins and the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, also a first in franchise history.

It’s season that has landed the Cardinals quarterback as the 10th best player in the NFL in 2015, according to Sam Monson’s ESPN Insider piece. 

The playoffs will leave a sour taste in the mouth of any Cardinals fan, and it tumbled Palmer down this list, but we shouldn’t forget just how good he was during the regular season. He led the league in average depth of target at 11.3 yards downfield, and despite that, he was still the league’s most accurate quarterback in the intermediate level and one of the league’s most accurate deep. Palmer didn’t receive a negative grade from PFF overall in any game during the regular season, and he posted incredibly efficient numbers in an offense that is by definition riskier than most.

Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is ranked No. 1 according to Monson. He cited Donald’s 11 sacks, 79 total pressures and 43 defensive stops while being a dominant force as reasons for the ranking.