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The 2018 Kirk Cousins Megathread


Heimdallr

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He's a top ten or better QB. I'm not sure they can find a better one any time soon.

I'm not convinced I love his decision making all the time, but I'm sure if I watched other teams, is feel the same about nearly every QB out there. 

I'd re-sign him, and fix the defense in the off season, along with getting a free agent OL. 

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29 minutes ago, vikingsrule said:

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.

Agreed.

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19 minutes ago, PrplChilPill said:

He's a top ten or better QB. I'm not sure they can find a better one any time soon.

I'm not convinced I love his decision making all the time, but I'm sure if I watched other teams, is feel the same about nearly every QB out there. 

I'd re-sign him, and fix the defense in the off season, along with getting a free agent OL. 

I think the OL fixes will be on the cheap side or maybe a 3rd round pick at the earliest on the OL. Realistically, I think Cousins needs a new Guard and I’d guess Elflein stays given his cheap contract. Kline probably gets released given the cap hit. 

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On 2019-12-09 at 11:09 AM, vikingsrule said:

I think the OL fixes will be on the cheap side or maybe a 3rd round pick at the earliest on the OL. Realistically, I think Cousins needs a new Guard and I’d guess Elflein stays given his cheap contract. Kline probably gets released given the cap hit. 

Kline has a dead cap number of $4.1M next year and saves only $1.6M if he's released. He'll be on the team. He can play either side so I think they'll be happy to have him as depth even if Samia or a rookie beats him out as a starter by mid-season. 

I don't think they'll make major changes to the OL next year as long as they come out of this season without any lingering injuries. They should draft a tackle in the top 3 rounds but I expect Reiff to be the day one starter at LT. 

The biggest weakness on the OL this year has been Bradbury. He's improved considerably since his first month but he's still struggling. Kline has had a couple of mediocre games since coming back from his latest concussion, but he's otherwise played pretty well. Elflein has been pretty good, a lot better than his reputation suggests. The tackles have been good in general, though O'Neill has tailed off over the last month.

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10 minutes ago, vikingsrule said:

Until he does it in a meaningful game, no one cares. 

I agree.  It's wonderful that he can play really well in less-pressure situations, but even in the so-called bigger games, he plays his best when the games are somewhat out of reach to get them back in the game, but once they do get caught up (ala Seattle this year and the Rams last year), he has yet to show that he can close the deal.  

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13 minutes ago, swede700 said:

I agree.  It's wonderful that he can play really well in less-pressure situations, but even in the so-called bigger games, he plays his best when the games are somewhat out of reach to get them back in the game, but once they do get caught up (ala Seattle this year and the Rams last year), he has yet to show that he can close the deal.  

Had Cousins not thrown that ghastly INT in the Green Bay game, and had they won, the perception of Cousins would be much, much different right now. At least in my opinion. That game showcased the worst of Kirk Cousins. Had it gone the other way, it would be tough to find anything negative to say about his performance this year.

That said, he hasn't given anyone any reason to doubt since the first couple of weeks of the season. Whether or not he's "turned the corner," only time will tell. But as of now, he's earning every bit of his salary this year. I just hope it isn't a Flacco scenario where one season gets him a contract that we'll regret for the next 5 years. Unless he wins the Super Bowl. Then he can crap the bed for the next five years and I'll still be happy. 

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4 hours ago, vikingsrule said:

Until he does it in a meaningful game, no one cares. 

Isn't every game meaningful?

Hasn't he performed under pressure against the Lions, Redskins, Eagles, Cowboys and especially the Broncos? If the Vikings hadn't won those games, they wouldn't be in the playoff conversation. Kirk doesn't have many 4th quarter comebacks to his name, he is tied with players like Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson with 1. He is not good at winning games that the Vikings probably shouldn't have. But his elite play has been operating within the scheme of this offense and not turning the ball over (he is tied with Teddy Bridgewater with a 1.0% interception rate, despite having the 3rd highest Yard per Attempt in the NFL at 8.4) . It's why the Vikings have only lost their 4 games by a combined 25 points.

If you want a QB that pulls wins out of thin air, unfortunately there are about 3 or 4 of those in the NFL, right now. 

We as fans should not be as hard on Cousins when he quite literally cannot play any better.

Edited by Nozizaki
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2 hours ago, Nozizaki said:

If you want a QB that pulls wins out of thin air, unfortunately there are about 2 or 3 of those in the NFL and they are signed to way steeper contracts than Cousins

I don't know about this statement. I suppose it depends on who you think those 2 or 3 QBs are.

The list of QBs signed to contracts way steeper than Cousins is small. There are a couple really nice looking young QBs on rookie contracts. The GOAT is paid far less than Cousins.

That said, I do not disagree with the point you are making in the post, only not sure about the one statement.

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2 hours ago, Nozizaki said:

Isn't every game meaningful?

Hasn't he performed under pressure against the Lions, Redskins, Eagles, Cowboys and especially the Broncos? If the Vikings hadn't won those games, they wouldn't be in the playoff conversation. Kirk doesn't have many 4th quarter comebacks to his name, he is tied with players like Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson with 1. He is not good at winning games that the Vikings probably shouldn't have. But his elite play has been operating within the scheme of this offense and not turning the ball over (he is tied with Teddy Bridgewater with a 1.0% interception rate, despite having the 3rd highest Yard per Attempt in the NFL at 8.4) . It's why the Vikings have only lost their 4 games by a combined 25 points.

If you want a QB that pulls wins out of thin air, unfortunately there are about 2 or 3 of those in the NFL and they are signed to way steeper contracts than Cousins.

We as fans should not be as hard on Cousins when he quite literally cannot play any better.

Losing competitively and beating teams with losing records shouldn’t be the standard. When do we start beating teams that deserve to play in the playoffs, besides the Eagles or Cowboys, because both are more deserving of a top 15 pick. When do we win meaningful games to get to the playoffs, or when does Cousins for that matter? I realize that it’s not just a Kirk Cousins problem but at the same time, the same problem held him back in Washington. Cousins has a golden opportunity to lead the team to the playoffs with three difficult and meaningful games to close the year. We know the defense isn’t good as of late and Cook has slowed down significantly. It’s on the passing game to carry the team to the playoffs, let’s see if they are up to the challenge. I don’t think you can blame anyone who is skeptical that Cousins will deliver.

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49 minutes ago, Cearbhall said:

I don't know about this statement. I suppose it depends on who you think those 2 or 3 QBs are.

The list of QBs signed to contracts way steeper than Cousins is small. There are a couple really nice looking young QBs on rookie contracts. The GOAT is paid far less than Cousins.

That said, I do not disagree with the point you are making in the post, only not sure about the one statement.

You're right, Patrick Mahomes is probably chief on that list, my bad.

Edited by Nozizaki
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