Height Weight : 202 Age : 29 : 6-3: 202: 29

Born : 8/19/1988 Barrington, IL

College : Michigan State

Experience : 7th season

High School : Holland Christian HS [MI]









The Perception:

As the NFL moves forward, the continuing trend for players receiving lucrative contracts on the first day of free agency proves the next man up sets the bar. Kirk Cousins bet on himself for two seasons playing under the franchise tag for the Washington Redskins in hopes to garner what would become the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history, it indeed came to fruition. The Minnesota Vikings wasted no time wining and dining the seven year veteran eager to make the deal official. In the end, Cousins hit the jackpot signing a three year contract to the tune of 84 million dollars fully guaranteed, not too shabby for the former backup playing behind former second overall selection Robert Griffin III.





It’s extremely interesting to witness the public perception (outside of Minnesota) to how Kirk Cousins is viewed as a franchise pivot in the NFL. Right from jump, the amount of money given to secure his services allowed the naysayers to instantly criticize the move as a dastardly mistake. While we agree the money is vast, ADF can’t argue the move and we fully support the deal for a team on the cusp of reaching the Super Bowl. The greatest aspect of this contract is the term attached providing an out after three years if things go sideways in a hurry. Minnesota currently employs a squad that easily rivals the best in the league and had one sizable positional upgrade that was filled this offseason with Kirk Cousins.





Kirk Cousins appears to most as an above average quarterback with good levels of talent but lacks the overall pedigree of being ranked as an elite level passer. These arguments have been on display roughly his entire career, but began to take shape once he earned the starting gig taking over for the Redskins. While we agree Cousins has had moments of bliss followed by disappear, the overall outlook should’ve already trumped the negative perceptions still attached to the former Michigan State product. Kirk has also been pegged as somewhat of a careless passer throwing balls in tight areas overestimating his ability to fit passes into those small windows leading to turnovers and missed opportunities. Perhaps the largest negative perception we’ve heard (and at times have witnessed) has been Cousins lack of clutch ability when the game is placed into crunch time. While some would allow these traits to dictate their opinions making hard-fast conclusions, we feel there is ample room for Kirk to grow with a ceiling that is yet to be reached.





The Reality:

First and foremost, Cousins has proven to be quite durable in his three years as the full time starter playing all 48 contests, which was rather impressive as he was sacked a whopping 41 times in 2017. On top of staying the course playing every contest, Cousins was extremely productive putting up numbers that did in fact rival the best in the business. When you review the statistical achievements over the last three years, the most impressive of the lot is his completion percentage seeing an average of 67.03% over that time, quite noteworthy. His high rate of completion success should foil the arguments that Cousins isn’t carful with the ball majority of the time. Since 2015, Cousins has held an average interception rate of 2.13% which isn’t as alarming as some would make you believe.





Continuing down the path of statistical achievement over his last three seasons, Kirk has been able to muster 13,176 passing yards, 81 touchdowns, while throwing 36 interceptions, quite the sound resume. Another aspect that caught our eye with great enthusiasm is the amount of success Cousins achieved in completing deep passes with regularity. Again over the last three campaigns, Kirk found his receivers 178 times with passes over 20 yards, and was able to complete another 30 passes over 40 yards, like we said extremely impressive. It very clear to us that Kirk has been undervalued for what he’s been able to generate on a team at times known for its dysfunction.





There’s something to be said about the man’s character showing great belief in his abilities to not only once prove he’s worth the price of admission, but to do it twice in supreme fashion is quite remarkable. Kirk was handed the dreaded franchise tag in consecutive years (2016 & 2017) putting his career at risk to potential injury, while playing for a club that was clearly looking to move in another direction, not the best circumstances and yet he carried on with nothing but pure class. With that said, the money Kirk will earn is quite extensive, but we feel he’s earned every penny this far.





The Outlook:

As Kirk enters his first season wearing Viking purple, we find ourselves enamoured with the possibilities of this offense becoming a topflight unit in 2018. This Minnesota club bolsters loads of talent in almost every facet possible. First, the offensive line is soundly put together with a cast that should keep Cousins jersey from seeing grass stains on the regular. Second, Cousins hasn’t enjoyed the support of a solid run attack which could be leaned upon to assist the pass game, creating play action opportunities forcing defenses to pinch up stacking the box in confusion resulting in heavy gains down field; Dalvin Cook will become a welcomed sight lined up in the backfield. And third, while Kirk has enjoyed having a stellar wide receiver core in his time with the Redskins, this unit could definitely challenge that group producing the same if not better when all is said and done, we’d bet on the latter.



