Minnesota Vikings |
Height: 6-3 Weight:
202 Age: 29
Born: 8/19/1988 Barrington,
IL
College: Michigan State
Experience: 7th season
High School: Holland Christian HS
[MI]
The Perception:
As the NFL
moves forward, the continuing trend for players receiving lucrative contracts
on the first day of free agency proves the next man up sets the bar. Kirk
Cousins bet on himself for two seasons playing under the franchise tag for the
Washington Redskins in hopes to garner what would become the largest guaranteed
contract in NFL history, it indeed came to fruition. The Minnesota Vikings
wasted no time wining and dining the seven year veteran eager to make the deal
official. In the end, Cousins hit the jackpot signing a three year contract to
the tune of 84 million dollars fully guaranteed, not too shabby for the former
backup playing behind former second overall selection Robert Griffin III.
It’s
extremely interesting to witness the public perception (outside of Minnesota)
to how Kirk Cousins is viewed as a franchise pivot in the NFL. Right from jump,
the amount of money given to secure his services allowed the naysayers to
instantly criticize the move as a dastardly mistake. While we agree the money
is vast, ADF can’t argue the move and we fully support the deal for a team on
the cusp of reaching the Super Bowl. The greatest aspect of this contract is
the term attached providing an out after three years if things go sideways in a
hurry. Minnesota currently employs a squad that easily rivals the best in the
league and had one sizable positional upgrade that was filled this offseason
with Kirk Cousins.
Kirk Cousins
appears to most as an above average quarterback with good levels of talent but
lacks the overall pedigree of being ranked as an elite level passer. These
arguments have been on display roughly his entire career, but began to take
shape once he earned the starting gig taking over for the Redskins. While we
agree Cousins has had moments of bliss followed by disappear, the overall
outlook should’ve already trumped the negative perceptions still attached to
the former Michigan State product. Kirk has also been pegged as somewhat of a
careless passer throwing balls in tight areas overestimating his ability to fit
passes into those small windows leading to turnovers and missed opportunities.
Perhaps the largest negative perception we’ve heard (and at times have
witnessed) has been Cousins lack of clutch ability when the game is placed into
crunch time. While some would allow these traits to dictate their opinions making
hard-fast conclusions, we feel there is ample room for Kirk to grow with a ceiling
that is yet to be reached.
The Reality:
First and
foremost, Cousins has proven to be quite durable in his three years as the full
time starter playing all 48 contests, which was rather impressive as he was
sacked a whopping 41 times in 2017. On top of staying the course playing every
contest, Cousins was extremely productive putting up numbers that did in fact
rival the best in the business. When you review the statistical achievements
over the last three years, the most impressive of the lot is his completion
percentage seeing an average of 67.03% over that time, quite noteworthy. His
high rate of completion success should foil the arguments that Cousins isn’t
carful with the ball majority of the time. Since 2015, Cousins has held an
average interception rate of 2.13% which isn’t as alarming as some would make
you believe.
Continuing
down the path of statistical achievement over his last three seasons, Kirk has
been able to muster 13,176 passing yards, 81 touchdowns, while throwing 36
interceptions, quite the sound resume. Another aspect that caught our eye with
great enthusiasm is the amount of success Cousins achieved in completing deep
passes with regularity. Again over the last three campaigns, Kirk found his
receivers 178 times with passes over 20 yards, and was able to complete another
30 passes over 40 yards, like we said extremely impressive. It very clear to us
that Kirk has been undervalued for what he’s been able to generate on a team at
times known for its dysfunction.
There’s
something to be said about the man’s character showing great belief in his abilities
to not only once prove he’s worth the price of admission, but to do it twice in
supreme fashion is quite remarkable. Kirk was handed the dreaded franchise tag
in consecutive years (2016 & 2017) putting his career at risk to potential
injury, while playing for a club that was clearly looking to move in another
direction, not the best circumstances and yet he carried on with nothing but
pure class. With that said, the money Kirk will earn is quite extensive, but we
feel he’s earned every penny this far.
The Outlook:
As Kirk
enters his first season wearing Viking purple, we find ourselves enamoured with
the possibilities of this offense becoming a topflight unit in 2018. This
Minnesota club bolsters loads of talent in almost every facet possible. First,
the offensive line is soundly put together with a cast that should keep Cousins
jersey from seeing grass stains on the regular. Second, Cousins hasn’t enjoyed
the support of a solid run attack which could be leaned upon to assist the pass
game, creating play action opportunities forcing defenses to pinch up stacking
the box in confusion resulting in heavy gains down field; Dalvin Cook will
become a welcomed sight lined up in the backfield. And third, while Kirk has
enjoyed having a stellar wide receiver core in his time with the Redskins, this
unit could definitely challenge that group producing the same if not better
when all is said and done, we’d bet on the latter.
From the
fantasy perspective, Kirk Cousins continues to climb our board and will become
a mainstay if progression is realized throughout camp and the preseason.
Finishing 2017 as the sixth ranked quarterback, Kirk was able to generate 277.6 fantasy points while
posting a game average totaling 17.4
points per game. When you place those numbers in perceptive to the lack of
proven talent on the Redskins receiving core (outside of Jamison Crowder), teamed
with lost seasons due in part to injury to Jordan Reed and Chris Thompson, it’s
rather astounding. Many don’t realize that Kirk fell just 1.1 fantasy points shy on average in matching the great Tom
Brady in points per contest, food for thought. The one aspect that could pose
warning signs is the strength of the Vikings defense which could ultimately
shut down the opposition allowing Minnesota to run the clock when generating a
lead. While that might take place in random contests, we have no objection to
fully endorse Cousins reaching numbers comparable to career highs set in
Washington. It’s not out of the question to see Kirk produce 4600-5000 passing
yards, finding the endzone 30-35 times, while throwing his average interception
rate seeing 10-13 passes picked off. We could see a top five performance from
the Vikings pivot in year one.
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