Cincinnati plays at Arizona Sunday, and it’s a rare matchup of a former No. 1 overall pick (Carson Palmer) playing against the franchise that selected him. These kind of games don’t come along often, and they usually don’t end well for the player.
In this century, there have been 19 of these games, and the team have come out on top (over the player) in all but four of them.
I’m not saying the breakup between Palmer and the Bengals gives either team any special motivation. It happened so long ago, I think everyone involved has moved past it. Palmer’s happy where he’s at, and it ended up being a great trade for the Bengals, picking up a haul of draft picks from the Raiders. (Oakland’s coach at the time, Hue Jackson, is now Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator.)
But No. 1 overall picks are just 4-15 against their original teams in this century.
| NO. 1 PICKS AGAINST TEAMS THAT DRAFTED THEM | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opponent | Com | Att | Pct | Yards | TD | Int |
| 2000 | Testaverde, NYJ | at T.B. (W 21-17) | 22 | 42 | 52% | 181 | 1 | 3 |
| 2002 | Bledsoe, Buff. | N.E. (L 7-38) | 28 | 45 | 62% | 302 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | Bledsoe, Buff. | at N.E. (L 17-27) | 32 | 51 | 63% | 328 | 2 | 4 |
| 2003 | Bledsoe, Buff. | N.E. (W 31-0) | 17 | 28 | 61% | 230 | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | Bledsoe, Buff. | at N.E. (L 0-31) | 12 | 29 | 41% | 83 | 0 | 1 |
| 2004 | Bledsoe, Buff. | N.E. (L 17-31) | 18 | 30 | 60% | 247 | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 | Bledsoe, Buff. | at N.E. (L 6-29) | 8 | 19 | 42% | 76 | 0 | 3 |
| 2005 | Testaverde, NYJ | T.B. (W 14-12) | 13 | 19 | 68% | 163 | 0 | 1 |
| 2005 | E.Manning, NYG | at S.D. (L 23-45) | 24 | 41 | 59% | 352 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 | E.Manning, NYG | S.D. (L 20-21) | 25 | 33 | 76% | 215 | 2 | 0 |
| 2011 | Vick, Phil. | at Atl. (L 31-35) | 19 | 28 | 68% | 242 | 2 | 1 |
| 2012 | Vick, Phil. | Atl. (L 17-30) | 21 | 35 | 60% | 191 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012 | Palmer, Oak. | at Cin. (L 10-34) | 19 | 34 | 56% | 146 | 1 | 1 |
| 2013 | P.Manning, Den. | at Ind. (L 33-39) | 29 | 49 | 59% | 386 | 3 | 1 |
| 2013 | E.Manning, NYG | at S.D. (L 14-37) | 20 | 32 | 63% | 259 | 1 | 2 |
| 2014 | P.Manning, Den. | Ind. (W 31-24) | 22 | 36 | 61% | 269 | 3 | 0 |
| 2014 | A.Smith, K.C. | at S.F. (L 17-22) | 16 | 30 | 53% | 158 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | P.Manning, Den. | Ind. (L 13-24) | 26 | 46 | 57% | 211 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | P.Manning, Den. | at Ind. (L 24-27) | 21 | 36 | 58% | 281 | 2 | 2 |
—Ian Allan