Where do YOU rank Cousins?

Since 2004, the Vikings have had 11 different quarterbacks take the majority of passing snaps — seven in the past eight years. Even more notably, those 11 quarterbacks are not identical to the 11 quarterbacks in that span who started Week 1 — with Brad Johnson taking over for Daunte Culpepper, Gus Frerotte taking over for Tarvaris Jackson, Christian Ponder taking over for Donovan McNabb, Matt Cassel taking over for Ponder, Teddy Bridgewater taking over for Cassel, Sam Bradford taking over for Shaun Hill (who started over slated starter Bridgewater) and Case Keenum taking over for Bradford.

So, it’s difficult to overstate how unusual and important stability at quarterback is for the Vikings and for Vikings fans. It’s important, therefore, to remember that for all of his other qualities, Kirk Cousins certainly provides stability.

The Vikings didn’t shell out $84 million over three years just for that quality, of course, but it was certainly part of the equation. The Vikings haven’t gotten enough for their investment, but the expectation that he’ll start this year is part of the deal, too. In the case that he doesn’t, the Vikings have some relative unknowns backing him up, and it will be curious to see what they’ll do if called upon.

Kirk Cousins
The first year of the Cousins experiment is neither a failure nor a success, uniquely frustrating in a way that a complete failure wouldn’t be. It wouldn’t be fair to say the Vikings are in “quarterback purgatory” because Cousins is genuinely better than most starting quarterbacks in the NFL — but the contract prevented the team from investing in other kinds of assets that could improve other areas. With that in mind, Cousins clearly needs to be better for the Vikings to make a genuine run at the postseason, something he knows.

Strengths: Not much has changed since my assessment in last year’s piece for Zone Coverage. Cousins is strong at pre-snap reads, has solid timing and rhythm. Wields a fast release that keeps DBs from jumping the ball and stops edge rushers from easy strip-sacks. He’s a good decision-maker with strong mechanics and accuracy — particularly short accuracy over the past three years, fitting in tight windows and leading receivers on screen passes. Has, per Next Gen Stats, been among the leading quarterbacks in first-down rate on screens. Great intermediate accuracy, even better than short accuracy. Strong arm. Shows toughness and poise in the pocket. When he does make mistakes under pressure, they tend not to be huge mistakes; not a high interception rate under pressure. Pro Football Focus data generally points to a low likelihood of turnover-worthy plays over several years, a product of his ability to make the correct decision based on the coverage he sees. Phenomenal ball-handler in play-action and good at guiding the offense to sell the run action.

Weaknesses: When he does miss a pre-snap read, the mistakes creep in. Will miss seeing open receivers downfield more often than many quarterbacks. “By-the-book” style works for most snaps but can be exploited by defenses and breaks down later in games. Poor third-down conversion rate — bottom half in third-down conversion rate in 2018, and in third-and-long conversion rate. Bottom quartile conversion rates (both in general and in third-and-long) the year before. Stays in the pocket a little too long, contributing to his league-leading fumble total over his time in Washington and through 2018. Struggles with pressure and with deep accuracy. Overall depth-adjusted accuracy is average. PFF data that highlights excellent turnover avoidance also highlights issues generating high-value plays.