WASHINGTON — One NFL Network analyst isn’t convinced Kirk Cousins is a true NFL “starter” and doubled-down that the Redskins quarterback is merely a backup.

In a somewhat bizarre interview Friday on The Sports Junkies, Jamie Dukes, an NFL Network analyst who played 10 seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman, argued a starter, by his definition, is not simply a quarterback who starts. It seems he was suggesting only the top tier or two of quarterbacks — including Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning — are considered “starters” in his eyes.

On Sept. 15, Dukes told the Junkies Cousins is a “nice” and “wonderful guy,” but:

“He’s a wonderful backup quarterback is what he is, and that’s all he’s going to be, is a wonderful backup quarterback.”

Cousins started all 16 games for the playoff-bound Redskins, who went 9-7 to win the NFC East after winning just seven total games the past two seasons.

After playing the September clip, the Junkies wanted to know if Dukes had changed his mind on Cousins.

“That was…Week 2 of the NFL season,” host Jason Bishop said. “Have you changed your opinion on Kirk Cousins?”

“From what standpoint?” Dukes asked.

“Well just that he’s a backup quarterback,” host Eric Bickel said, adding that Dukes compared Cousins to journeyman quarterbacks such as Matt Cassel and Brian Hoyer.

“Oh, is Brian Hoyer in the playoffs?” Dukes responded.

“Yes,” Bishop answered.

“Oh! Gee. Funny. Is his record 9-7?”

“Yeah, but his numbers are nowhere near Kirk’s,” Bickel chimed in.

“OK, well Ryan Fitzpatrick’s got more touchdowns and more wins than Kirk does,” Dukes said. (Fitzpatrick threw 31 touchdowns to Cousins’ 29, and he won 10 games to Cousins’ nine.) “My point is they’re the same guy. Kirk has player particularly well in the second half of the season, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that with DeSean [Jackson] coming back, that that’s helped him out. I mean, he deserves credit for playing well. But at the same time, I won’t put Kirk Cousins, Brian Hoyer or Ryan Fitzpatrick in the class of a Ben Roethlisberger, of Eli Manning, of that ilk. That’s not what I’m prepared to do.”

“I don’t think you should,” Bickel interjected.

“So we’re clear on it,” Dukes went on. “I’ve always said I thought he’s a .500-type quarterback, [which] means he can win in this league. OK, so he’s above .500. OK, fine. But again, to me, when I look at the standard of where quarterbacks are, this, that and the other, there’s a couple of tiers that he’s below.”

Bishop then tried to get clarification if Dukes had changed his opinion on Cousins at all, asking him if he still considered Cousins “just a backup,” to use Dukes’ own words from the September call.

“My definition of ‘just a backup’ is ‘a guy who can win games,'” Dukes answered. “He’s…a .500 quarterback. That’s my definition of a backup. And I’ve been very consistent on—that’s my definition. Now, they exceeded that. They’re over .500. But again, if you want Kirk as your quarterback, great. If I had to choose a quarterback, he just wouldn’t be one of them. Neither would Brian Hoyer. Neither would Ryan Tannehill, for that matter. But the point is that everybody gets to choose who they want. That’s not what I would choose as the guy that I think could lead a team to the Super Bowl. And it may happen.”

“So Kirk hasn’t shown you anything that would lead you to believe, ‘Hey, you know what? I might have been a little bit wrong on this guy, this guy actually has some pretty good skills and could be a starter for a long time,'” Bishop said.

“I’m just saying everybody’s barometers are different,” answered Dukes. “In my barometer, and I can only speak for myself, and as I said, Kirk has had a fabulous year for him. I just don’t put him in the class of the elite quarterbacks. I just can’t do that. Maybe you guys can because he’s leading your team to the playoffs.”

“No no no no, we’re not putting him in the elite quarterbacks,” Bickel said. “We’re saying he’s a starter though, he’s a proven starter.”

“That’s your definition of what a starter is, and that’s fine,” Dukes said.

“Well a starter is someone who’s going to start,” Bickel explained.

“No no, that’s your definition, fine,” Dukes responded.

The Junkies agreed with Dukes that Cousins is not going to put a team on his back like a Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers could, but say the Skins QB is a step above Hoyer, Fitzpatrick and Cassel.

Bishop then asked him if Cousins had exceeded the expectations Dukes had of him entering the season.

“He has exceeded my expectations and has played, as I just said, has played incredibly well. He has. Very well,” Dukes said, later praising Cousins’ ability to throw accurately and get passes off quickly, and he admitted Cousins is improving his decision-making.

Dukes also seemed to refer to Cousins as “Kurt” throughout the interview, something he appeared to acknowledge by retweeting the following tweet after his call.

The entire call is below, as is the introduction to the call when the Junkies revisited Dukes’ September call, and a slew of reactions. Included are comments from 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen, who attempts to differentiate between a lower-tier starter and a backup.

The Background



The Dukes Call



The Reaction



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