Developing days : Carson Palmer's evolution as the Bengals' starting quarterback accelerates in training camp, where he must establish his leadership, forge a rapport with his receivers, get comfortable in the offense—and deal with enormous expectations

Sporting News, The, July 19, 2004 by Matt Crossman

The huddle-presence factor

One advantage Palmer has over most quarterbacks is his size. His is an unassuming bigness. He doesn't have massive arms, legs or shoulders. He isn't particularly cut. He doesn't look huge until he stands next to someone. Then you realize he's 6-5, 245--at least. "We tested our guys in the 40" says Lewis, "and he timed like he was a running back."

Palmer's greatest asset is his arm. He has shown in practice he can throw the ball great distances and with great precision. But all NFL starting quarterbacks can throw, and getting goose-pimply about practice throws is the equivalent of boasting about a 5 o'clock hitter. One team official says Palmer can throw the ball 70 yards; watch him for one practice, and you wonder whether that is an understatement.

As much as he needs to show a thorough knowledge of the offense, develop timing with his receivers and make pinpoint throws, Palmer also has to show his teammates he has the chutzpah--known as huddle presence--to lead the team. Huddle presence is the quarterback's ability to run the team, and it involves shaking off a forearm to the face, telling a receiver he blew a route and calmly running a 2-minute offense--not to mention getting a play off on time when some play verbiage is as long as a Montana highway.

On this point, training camp is the training wheels. Palmer won't get jacked upside the head or slammed to the turf in practice like he will in a game. "When he comes back to the huddle, the way he responds is critical;' says Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Nolan says. "You can't see that in practice."

Chow attended a Bengals practice in May. He noticed the difference in Palmer's huddle presence immediately. "What I saw in Carson was a huge jump in maturity in how he handled the huddle. You could see the respect from the other guys."

Palmer will tread a fine line between being a leader and being led. On the one hand, he's the starting quarterback. On the other hand, he never has played a down in the NFL, and the team, as Palmer points out, already has established leaders.

Palmer is coachable and eager to learn from veterans. Maybe too eager. Last year, he fell for every rookie prank in the book. The specific pranks will remain secret so subsequent rookies can get punk'd. Says one highly placed Bengals source: "We can't write too much about it, or we won't be able to get our new guys." There goes the closing anecdote about snipe hunting.

So what kind of leader will Palmer be? It's the most important question of camp, one that partly will be answered this summer and partly will be answered throughout his career.

For now, Palmer's friendly personality--he's from California but you'd swear he was from Peoria--makes him popular. Who wouldn't like a guy who named his dog after Homer Simpson? He never will be a rah-rah leader, but that doesn't mean teammates won't look up to him. He's a lead-by-example type who knows better than to try to act like somebody he isn't. "I just need to be in position where I can control the ball, make smart decisions and do what I'm coached up to do."