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It really depends on how you define "middling". Most would put Cousins around the middle of that pack tier with regards to quarterback play. I don't deny that ranking, though I think he's in the upper portion of that 12-18 crowd (I think sports illustrated ranked him at like 18 or something, and sporting news ranked him 19) based on what he actually does on the field. Some people consider the potential of quarterbacks, and I get that when doing some rankings, but if we are talking purely on the field, it's hard to say definitively that Winston is better than Cousins, though I would take Winston over Cousins if given the choice because of the upside. 

 

What people fail to acknowledge is just how hard it is to get a quarterback as good as Cousins, even if his on the field play is best defined as "average". I mean, that's really hard to get. Go back over the last 6 or 7 drafts and see how many quarterbacks drafted are as good as Cousins has been. It's not pretty. Waiting for a quarterback better than Cousins could quite seriously take decades. Just look at Kansas City, Cleveland, Chicago, etc. 

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21 minutes ago, Forge said:

Kansas City, Cleveland, Chicago, etc.

Well...maybe look at Cleveland. Chicago and Kansas City aren't the greatest cases given that prior to 2017, we had drafted as many first round QBs as the two of them combined over the past 30 years. Which is to say two. In other words - how hard have they been looking? Jacksonville is a good example of a team trying their darndest and failing repeatedly. 

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33 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

Well...maybe look at Cleveland. Chicago and Kansas City aren't the greatest cases given that prior to 2017, we had drafted as many first round QBs as the two of them combined over the past 30 years. Which is to say two. In other words - how hard have they been looking? Jacksonville is a good example of a team trying their darndest and failing repeatedly. 

Yeah, they certainly haven't drafted many in the first, but they have tried a lot of avenues to find good quarterbacks - free agency, trades, later picks, etc. I was more or less going on the fact that they really haven't had good quarterback play in a very long time that would be comparable to the play that you could get from Cousins. I mean, Smith is fine, but I don't think he's as good as Cousins has been. Same for Cutler. 

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5 minutes ago, Fureys49ers said:

I'm curious though as to why people believe Cousins is the 18th or 19th ranked QB. How does one justify those rankings?

I have to assume that they are taking more than on the field things into consideration. Youth / potential that type of thing. Some are also crazy - Sporting News had Eli at #9. 

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2 hours ago, Forge said:

 

If he's looking to play for a contender, that removes us from the equation, though none of the beat writers have mentioned us being interested. 

All those years in Cleveland. Well if it isn't the Steelers it would probably be Philadelphia or someone else. 49ers need to build their reputation back up.

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31 minutes ago, y2lamanaki said:

Well...maybe look at Cleveland. Chicago and Kansas City aren't the greatest cases given that prior to 2017, we had drafted as many first round QBs as the two of them combined over the past 30 years. Which is to say two. In other words - how hard have they been looking? Jacksonville is a good example of a team trying their darndest and failing repeatedly. 

Why are you boxing his point with quarterbacks only taken in the first round? None of those teams have really had a franchise guy in the last 30 plus years regardless of how they were acquired. Cup of coffee with a few guys (Trent Green), but those franchises have largely just missed the mark.

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So Brooks signed with GB. I'm a little shocked that we couldn't trade him based on the contract that they gave him - 1 year, 3.5 base that can possibly get as high as 5 million with incentives. That's more than a team would have had to pay if they had traded for him (his salary was de-escalated into the 4's). There was clearly interest around the league, so I'm a little surprised we couldn't at least get a swap of picks. 

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2 minutes ago, PapaShogun said:

Why are you boxing his point with quarterbacks only taken in the first round?

Because the largest percentage of starters are first round picks with their own team. So if a team is not spending first round picks on a QB, they're really not looking all that hard for one. The Jags and Browns are better examples of teams that have tried exceptionally hard to find someone 'even as good as Cousins' and failing. 

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2 minutes ago, Forge said:

So Brooks signed with GB. I'm a little shocked that we couldn't trade him based on the contract that they gave him - 1 year, 3.5 base that can possibly get as high as 5 million with incentives. That's more than a team would have had to pay if they had traded for him (his salary was de-escalated into the 4's). There was clearly interest around the league, so I'm a little surprised we couldn't at least get a swap of picks. 

I'm guessing because the teams likely assumed if he was available, he'd be on the way out and there wouldn't be a ton of competition for a 33-year old LB just released from the 49ers. 

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Just now, y2lamanaki said:

Because the largest percentage of starters are first round picks with their own team. So if a team is not spending first round picks on a QB, they're really not looking all that hard for one. The Jags and Browns are better examples of teams that have tried exceptionally hard to find someone 'even as good as Cousins' and failing. 

Depends on the draft class though. Not going to always have a 2004 lineup. If someone is taken in the second round does that mean the franchise really isn't looking? Oakland wasn't looking for a franchise QB when they took Carr in round 2?

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31 minutes ago, Forge said:

Yeah, they certainly haven't drafted many, but they have tried a lot of avenues to find good quarterbacks - free agency, trades, etc. I was more or less going on the fact that they really haven't had good quarterback play in a very long time that would be comparable to the play that you could get from Cousins. I mean, Smith is fine, but I don't think he's as good as Cousins has been. Same for Cutler. 

Oh, I knew what you meant. But at least they've had some stable play in that regard. My point was that if you're drafting a guy in the first round every few years and can't even luck into someone that good, then it better shows how complicated it is. 

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1 minute ago, y2lamanaki said:

Oh, I knew what you meant. But at least they've had some stable play in that regard. My point was that if you're drafting a guy in the first round every few years and can't even luck into someone that good, then it better shows how complicated it is. 

For sure, and in fairness to KC specifically, they've definitely had some stability with "okay" play, just nothing great. Smith, Trent Green had some nice years, Grbac. It's probably unfair to put them in that category because at least they have made it work in some regard. 

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