A Few Reflections on Kirk Cousins For His 33rd Birthday
K. Joudry
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As of today, Kirk Cousins is 33-years old. In other words, Cousins is on the tail end of his career. It’s hard to believe he’s already been in the NFL for 9 years. The Minnesota Vikings are banking on him taking steps forward well into his 30s.
He was chosen 102 in the 2012 draft. For the first little while, it looked like he was merely the backup for Robert Griffin III. An injury, though, opened the opportunity for Cousins to assert himself. He played reasonably well for Washington from 2015-17, creating widespread debates about whether he was actually a franchise QB. True, his W/L record was less than inspiring, but Washington is a disaster of a franchise. He always had impressive statistics, and his abilities are impressive. He has sneaky athleticism and a really good arm. Perhaps a change of scenery would help him.
He therefore signed a 3-year, $84 million deal with the Vikings in 2018. It was fully guaranteed. For better or worse, he was the QB1 for the foreseeable future in Minnesota. Over three years, the high point was his OT playoff victory against the Saints. Otherwise, he has been a good-but-not-great QB in his time with the purple. It remains to be seen if his peers think he is among the NFL’s best players.
Last season was among his best statistically. He threw for almost 4300 yards and had 35 TD passes. He also did a better job of moving around in the pocket, even scrambling more. It’s easy to forget that he ran a 4.84 40 yard dash. That’s pretty good. Compared to Tom Brady, Cousins is blazing fast. However, Cousins played really, really poorly in the opening 6 weeks of the 2020 season, making it extremely difficult for the Vikings to make the playoffs.
Moreover, unlike Cousins, Brady wins (a lot). For his career – per Pro Football Reference – Cousins is 51-51-2. He’s a .500 QB. If he can’t show this season that he is more than merely average when it comes to the W/L category, Cousins will likely be looking for work sooner rather than later. As Bob Sansevere recently suggested right here at Purple PTSD, Cousins will face intense criticism this season unless he wins (and wins a lot).
So, we send along our best wishes to Mr. Cousins on his 33rd birthday. The hope, though, is that he gives us a gift: a performance that leads our squad to that elusive Lombardi Trophy.