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Carson Palmer led NFL in Average Depth of Target in 2015

The Arizona Cardinals like to attack down the field, so the stat is not surprising.

By Seth Cox
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

One thing we know about the Arizona Cardinals head coach, Bruce Arians, is that he absolutely loves the deep ball.  He talks about having six shots a game in his playbook, and never leaving one unused.  So when Pro Football Focus is cleaning out their 2015 stats bin, it comes as no surprise that Carson Palmer was the quarterback with the deepest average depth of target on the season in 2015.

Average depth of target is a way to measure how far down the field each quarterback's attempted pass goes.  In Arizona, there are a lot of deep shots to take that average depth of target to beyond ten yards per pass.

One thing that makes these throws so advantageous for Arizona is having targets like Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd, big bodied wide receivers who can box out and out physical smaller defensive backs.

The more obvious part is having speedsters like Floyd, John Brown and JJ Nelson, who are able to create deep separation.

With the weapons at hand and the coach calling the plays, it is no surprise that Carson Palmer leads the NFL in average depth of target.

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