Kirk Cousins is the most confusing player in the NFL
(Photo Courtesy of Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports)
Back in the day, NFL analysts would refer to Andy Dalton as the “prime meridian” of NFL quarterbacks. Everyone ranked above Andy Dalton was a solid quarterback while everyone below him was thought to be one of the less talented players at the position. Now that Andy Dalton has moved on from that stage in his career, people are left wondering who that next person might be. Of course it’s possible that nobody can take that spot, but personally Kirk Cousins is a prime candidate to be the next “prime meridian.”
There’s arguably not a stranger player in the NFL than Kirk Cousins. Here’s a guy who sometimes has phenomenal games and looks like a great quarterback, but other times looks abysmal whilst blatantly failing to hit open receivers. Sounds a lot like Dalton doesn’t it? Cousins’s first year as the full time starter, his team made the playoffs (in the NFC East but still). His completion percentage was nearly the highest he’s had in his career at nearly 69.8%, which is phenomenal and had 29 touchdowns. He then fails to make the playoffs the next two years (in the NFC East aka NFC Least) and Washington decides to move on from him.
Cousins then signed with Minnesota on a three-year, $84 million deal which most people said was utterly absurd. His first year there, Cousins threw for 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 70.1% completion percentage, which is phenomenal, but he couldn’t lead his team to the playoffs. The next year he played great, throwing for 26 touchdowns and only six interceptions while completing 69.1% of his passes. Furthermore, the Vikings made the playoffs and he played well in the game against the 13-3 Saints coming out on top via a game-winning touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph.
The Vikings lost to the 2019 NFC Champion Niners in the Divisional round, but nobody expected them to go that far. All in all the season was still a success in most people’s books.
Last year, although Cousins had his highest touchdown total with 35, he also had his highest interception total at 13 and the Vikings went 7-9, missing the playoffs. Sure the defense was bad, but if you're paid like one of the best, then you should be able to lead your team to the playoffs, especially since there were seven playoff spots last year instead of six.
At times, Kirk Cousins is a top ten quarterback while other times he’s flat out awful. If the Vikings don’t make the playoffs, then they could be looking for Kirk Cousins replacement in the near future even if he doesn’t play that bad. I don’t think there’s another quarterback in the league who can flip flop their level of play on a weekly basis. We’ll just have to wait and see if Cousins can stick to playing good football and good football only this year.