The 2018 Kirk Cousins Megathread

[SteelKing728]

You like that?

[wcblack34]

👌

[CriminalMind]

48

[Cearbhall]

6 hours ago, SteelKing728 said:

You like that?

In the comments to that tweet the author of the tweet mentions that they would consider franchise tagging Cousins after his current deal expires. I was surprised that nobody was questioning that because that'll cost the Vikings over $40M for a year. I like what Cousins has been doing, but it still would be crazy to pay Cousins like that IMO.

The best time to extend Cousins would be after this season. The Vikings should make a decision at that point whether they want to extend Cousins or look for a different QB in the draft. I really wish the team was able to get a QB in the draft this year. That decision would be a lot easier of a decision knowing what the alternative looked like. With the alternative being unknown, which is scary -- the Vikings will have a hard time choosing door number 2.

If the Vikings choose to defer the decision on extending Cousins until after he has played out his last year the price tag to re-sign him could be immense. I very much doubt they tag him.

[Krauser]

Kirk Cousins is now 2nd in PFF's passing grade, at 86.8. Russell Wilson leads the league with 89.4, and Brees is 3rd at 86.6.

Limiting the scope to weeks 3-11 (since the Lambeau game), Cousins is by far the highest graded passer in the NFL, at 92.1. Wilson (86.7) and Rodgers (86.0) round out the top 3. 

Cousins has the 2nd best passer rating in the NFL on deep (20+ yard) throws, at 130.6. Wilson leads with 135.4.

He has either the highest or 2nd highest accuracy percentage (completion percentage adjusted for drops etc) in the league, depending on whether Brees has enough attempts to qualify. 

Cousins has been under pressure on 37.9% of his dropbacks, tied with Watson for 8th highest pressure rate in the league. He's got the 7th best passer rating under pressure, at 88.5.

Kept clean (actually the best indicator of quality QB play, since it's subject to less random variation than throws under pressure), Cousins has by far the best passer rating in the league, at 126.1. Stafford and Wilson round out the top 3. 

Cousins' average time to throw has trended down and is now at 2.80 seconds, 2nd longest in the league behind Minshew and just ahead of Rodgers. He has the 4th best passer rating in the NFL on throws less than 2.5 seconds, and 3rd best on throws of 2.5 seconds or more. 

He has the 4th best passer rating with play action, and the 5th best without it (but considerably higher with it, as is true for most QBs). The Vikings have the 4th highest percentage of passes using play action in the league.

[Krauser]

12 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

In the comments to that tweet the author of the tweet mentions that they would consider franchise tagging Cousins after his current deal expires. I was surprised that nobody was questioning that because that'll cost the Vikings over $40M for a year.

If you read further down the comments on that tweet, someone does question it. Nick didn't realize it would count as Cousins' 3rd tag, he checks and confirms that, and agrees that it's not a viable option. 

I agree that they'll try to extend him after this season.

Unless they see a Lamar-at-32 value in the draft, I don't think drafting a QB will affect their decision much if at all. Cousins' contract negotiation may be mostly done by the draft, or at least before a rookie would even see the field in preseason. It's not realistic to expect a day 2-3 drafted rookie to play so well that the team would decide to move on from Cousins, having seen what he's capable of this year. 

...

Weirdly, the Vikings with Cousins extended might be in one of the better QB situations in the league. He's not too old (31) and he's stayed very healthy (one of the longest active streaks in the league for consecutive games). He's established himself well within the 2nd tier (franchise QB, but not elite) of QB quality, but he's been better than some of the other QBs in that group (Garoppolo, Goff) and he's younger than others (Ryan, Rivers). 

If Cousins finishes the year playing at or around this level, how many teams have better QB situations going forward?

• KC, HOU, BAL with the young superstars Mahomes, Watson and Jackson
• SEA with Wilson, who should be MVP this year. Wilson is 31, same age as Cousins
• GB now that Rodgers is playing better. Rodgers is 36 this year.
• arguably DAL if Prescott is really as good as he seems this year
• maybe PHI is better if Wentz stays healthy and his supporting cast is improved
• probably ARI is better assuming Murray continues to develop

There are other better QBs, especially Brees and Brady, but with age as a factor, I'm not sure those teams are better off over the ~5 year window of Cousins' next contract. Rivers and Roethlisberger seem to be winding down with age.

There are other teams in similar shape, including DET (Stafford), SF (Garoppolo), ATL (Ryan) and LA (Goff, assuming he's better than he's shown this year). 

I think the Vikings would be better off than many teams with recently drafted QBs given their performances so far, including NYG (Jones), NYJ (Darnold), and CLE (Mayfield).

So they'd probably be somewhere around the 7th-10th best QB situation in the league going forward.

[vike daddy]

So here's something to think about heading into Minnesota's Week 12 bye: Cousins' per-game numbers (21 of 29 for 251 yards and 2 TDs) are strikingly similar to Russell Wilson's (22 of 33 for 274 yards and 2 TDs), while their passer ratings are nearly identical. Further, over their past seven games, Cousins' stats (73 percent completion rate, 2,020 yards, 18:1 TD-to-INT ratio, 126.5 passer rating) are actually better than the MVP front-runner's (67 percent completion rate, 1,836 yards, 16:2 TD-to-INT ratio, 112.7 passer rating).

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001079118/article/qb-index-week-12-dak-in-top-5-tom-brady-slides-out-of-top-10

 

another way to say the same thing.

[whitehops]

my worry is that cousins has very much been a product of his environment. in favourable situations like this year with a well-schemed offense and talented players that fit that scheme, cousins can produce like the elite quarterbacks. in sub-optimal environments he really struggles. if stefanski leaves soon to become a head coach and kubiak leaves or retires, then what will the offense look like? 

 

i think it's moot since we're almost guaranteed to extend cousins this offseason. the alternative would be to go into the following offseason with no heir apparent and no real means of acquiring one, leaving us in QB purgatory again.

[swede700]

13 hours ago, whitehops said:

my worry is that cousins has very much been a product of his environment. in favourable situations like this year with a well-schemed offense and talented players that fit that scheme, cousins can produce like the elite quarterbacks. in sub-optimal environments he really struggles. if stefanski leaves soon to become a head coach and kubiak leaves or retires, then what will the offense look like? 

 

i think it's moot since we're almost guaranteed to extend cousins this offseason. the alternative would be to go into the following offseason with no heir apparent and no real means of acquiring one, leaving us in QB purgatory again.

They can hire Shurmur back after the Giants fire him.  

[SteelKing728]

Isn't this technically the 2018-2019 Kirk Cousins Megathread now?

[wcblack34]

6 hours ago, SteelKing728 said:

Isn't this technically the 2018-2019 Kirk Cousins Megathread now?

Captain Kirk does not abide by the rules of space and time.

[vike daddy]

NFL.com’s quarterback rankings for the week are up, and Kirk Cousins landed at No. 7 overall. The rankings are compiled by Ali Bhanpuri, Gennaro Filice, Tom Blair and Dan Parr; each analyst weighs in, and their rankings are averaged to create the final list. So far this season, Cousins has 3,032 passing yards with a completion percentage of 69.3, 23 passing touchdowns and just four interceptions. His passer rating through 12 games is a career-high 111.9.

Ranked ahead of Cousins by the quartet of analysts were Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Houston’s Deshaun Watson, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Dallas’ Dak Prescott.

https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-kirk-cousins-facing-scrumptious-matchup-with-lions-defense?sf225465402=1&fbclid=IwAR1ygPPONQIAs7v7T70ETCCbidbwbs5TqRtXBYaQvt4KZepghJ9a8Be1mzQ

[wcblack34]

5 hours ago, vike daddy said:

NFL.com’s quarterback rankings for the week are up, and Kirk Cousins landed at No. 7 overall. The rankings are compiled by Ali Bhanpuri, Gennaro Filice, Tom Blair and Dan Parr; each analyst weighs in, and their rankings are averaged to create the final list. So far this season, Cousins has 3,032 passing yards with a completion percentage of 69.3, 23 passing touchdowns and just four interceptions. His passer rating through 12 games is a career-high 111.9.

Ranked ahead of Cousins by the quartet of analysts were Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Houston’s Deshaun Watson, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Dallas’ Dak Prescott.

https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-kirk-cousins-facing-scrumptious-matchup-with-lions-defense?sf225465402=1&fbclid=IwAR1ygPPONQIAs7v7T70ETCCbidbwbs5TqRtXBYaQvt4KZepghJ9a8Be1mzQ

It's sad that his career year is being wasted by the defense. 

[VikeManDan]

On 12/7/2019 at 11:03 AM, wcblack34 said:

It's sad that his career year is being wasted by the defense. 

We’re 9-4 and the story isn’t finished. 

[vikingsrule]

On 12/7/2019 at 11:03 AM, wcblack34 said:

It's sad that his career year is being wasted by the defense. 

Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for Cousins. If Cousins is truly entering his peak, the defense will need to improve drastically in the next year. I’m expecting a defensive heavy draft next year. Top 7 QB play, a top 5 defense and a top 5 RB is a great formula for success. Unfortunately, the defense hasn’t been top 20 the past 7-8 weeks.

Edited December 9, 2019 by vikingsrule