An Area Where Kirk Cousins Doesn’t Get Enough Credit
K. Joudry
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Kirk Cousins, God bless him, is constantly in the purple headlines.
Since becoming the QB1 in 2018, Cousins has inspired fans far and wide to spend no shortage of digital ink dissecting his play. Writers have similarly devoted ample attention; I’m certainly among those what have written a fair bit about him.
Quite often, the discussion is fuelled by two camps from within Vikings fandom: those who think he ought to be the purple QB and those who don’t. Both sides have some good evidence to support their position, and both tend to express themselves with great passion.
At times, something this debate misses is that Kirk Cousins is remarkably durable.
He has been in the NFL for 10 years and has been incredibly healthy in that time. Perhaps some of this is mere good luck, but a lot must rest in his toughness and commitment to taking care of his body. If you hop over to his player page on Pro Football Reference, you’ll see that he has had 7 years as a starter. He missed a game in the 2019 season because the playoffs were locked up; he missed a game last year due to Covid-19. Otherwise, he has always been out there for his team.
The situation at QB2 is less than inspiring. Right or wrong, Kellen Mond couldn’t earn the trust of the former coaching staff. He thus failed to overcome Sean Mannion, a veteran journeyman who is in Minnesota due to his brains, not his on-field play. The point is that the Vikings really haven’t made the backup job much of a priority. Some of that is due to how much money Cousins demands; some of that is due to his ability to consistently find his way onto the field.
If the Vikings find success in 2022, Kirk Cousins will need to be excellent. Not just average or pretty good, excellent. Demanding such a high percentage of the salary cap demands very good play. The potential is certainly present. He’s already a good NFL QB, he has a ton of skill on his side, and the head coach is an offense-first coach.
No one can predict the future, but we can be confident that he’ll be available for the Vikings. Minnesota is thus wise to build their offense around #8, the player who will have the most say in the team’s success.
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