Beware an Ultra Motivated Kirk Cousins
At his core, Kirk Cousins is a fiery competitor. We don’t get the “You Like That!?!?” moment unless he cared about overcoming doubt by winning. We don’t hear him repeat that phrase – with a notable expletive tossed in – during last season’s San Francisco practices unless the competitive fire was still burning.
How do we square his obvious desire to achieve greatness with the reality that his teams have never had meaningful success? A couple playoff wins, sure, but never anything resembling a true push for the Lombardi.
And what happens when we remember that his personal accolades are lacking? The man has been to the Pro Bowl 4 times, but has never been an All Pro (on either team) and hasn’t been in consideration for any of the league’s major awards (unlike Mr. Jefferson, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year).
Folks, hear me on this one: the only way to convince people you can do it is to actually do it. Let me phrase things differently. The only way for Kirk Cousins to prove he’s a legitimate top-tier QB1 who can play at an All-Pro level and lead a team to a Super Bowl is to actually do those things. Until he does, doubt and criticism will remain.
The Path Forward for Kirk Cousins
Since 2018, Cousins has been the sheriff in Vikings Land. Some think he hasn’t done particularly well in this role, but that doesn’t change reality: he has been the single most consequential player in Minnesota for the past 5 years.
The statistics never tell the full story, but they do form several notable chapters. Take a peak at how he has performed since leaving Washington behind:
| Year | Passing Yards | Completion % | Touchdowns | Interceptions | Record |
| 2018 | 4298 | 70.1% | 30 | 10 | 8-7-1 |
| 2019 | 3603 | 69.1% | 26 | 6 | 10-5 |
| 2020 | 4265 | 67.6% | 35 | 13 | 7-9 |
| 2021 | 4221 | 66.3% | 33 | 7 | 8-8 |
| 2022 | 4547 | 65.9% | 29 | 14 | 13-4 |
Now, we could take these stats – Minnesota only makes the playoffs when Cousins throws less than 30 TDs! – and make some misguided conclusions. Part of the point of the chart is merely to reinforce how steady and predictable Kirk Cousins has been since getting to The Gopher State.
What’s also wild is that the QB has had 5 different OCs during his time with the Purple & Gold: John DeFilippo, Kevin Stefanski, Gary Kubiak, Klint Kubiak, and Kevin O’Connell (aided by Wes Phillips, who is technically the OC).
Throughout the offseason, the Vikings’ main leaders – owner Mark Wilf, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, & HC Kevin O’Connell – have all said they’re looking forward to how Cousins operates in Year 2 with Mr. O’Connell calling the shots. Inserting a young, dynamic talent in Jordan Addison should help, as well, and that’s not even considering what a full season of T.J. Hockenson can do.
During his recent press conference, Cousins fielded questions about the lack of certainty when it comes to his contract. He’s attached to Minnesota for just one more season. Considering all the chatter about a QB trade and drafting a QB high in the draft, the lame duck Cousins season is pretty notable.
These issues aside, the embattled QB1 seems comfortable about where he’s at right now.
After starting with a quip about Chris Tomasson, Cousins launches into how happy he is to be back working with the team and being around his teammates. He notes how “encouraging” it is to “build on last year” and continue working through their “chemistry.”
About halfway through the presser, Kirk Cousins gets asked if he thinks the lack of extension functions as an indictment on his play. “In this league, there should never be entitlement,” the quarterback explains, “you always gotta go play and teams can do whatever they want to do. That’s their prerogative.”
He goes on to note how “positive” he feels and even reflects how as a senior in high school he didn’t have any scholarship offers following his year. The wild thing, though, is that he understands it’s all about winning: “You gotta focus on winning football games. If you win football games and do your part and put your work in, the rest will take care of itself.”
Amen.
Winning a pile of football games will ensure Mr. Cousins gets to stick around. Let’s hope all of the ongoing doubt and chatter gives #8 just a bit more motivation to stack up wins.
Kirk Cousins turns 35 on August 19th.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
