Kirk Cousins has been the center of debate for a while among general football and Minnesota Vikings fans. Debates have been going on about whether or not he is a good quarterback, whether or not the Vikings can win with him and if they should even keep him. In this three-part article series I’m going to look at who the Vikings could realistically get at quarterback who is better than Cousins. In this article I’m going to look at and discuss Kirk Cousins’ career and where his statistics ranked overall in 2021.
Kirk Cousins
Kirk had a good season satistically in 2021. His stats from the 2021 season are a 66.3% completion percentage with 4,221 yards passing, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Not bad right, especially with a 33/7 toucdown interception ratio.
So where does all of this rank? Well, Cousins’ completion percentage was ranked 16th, tied with Patrick Mahomes. It was also better than Justin Herbert (65.9), Russell Wilson (64.8), and Josh Allen (63.3). His passing yards (4,221) ranked 9th, more than Aaron Rodgers (4,115) and Kyler Murray (3,787). Cousins’ 7.5 yards per pass attempt was also tied for 9th with Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, and Dak Prescott. It was also ahead of Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes (both 7.4)
His 33 touchdowns ranked 9th, ahead of Russel Wilson (25), Kyler Murray (24), and Derrick Carr (23). He was only one touchdown behind Joe Burrow (34). His seven interceptions were tied for fourth fewest with Teddy Bridgewater, Carson Wentz, and Daniel Jones. Only ahead of him were Russell Wilson (six), Taysom Hill (five), and Aaron Rodgers (four). He also was tied with fourth highest passer rating (103.1) with Russel Wilson, only behind Dak Prescott (104.2), Joe Burrow (108.3), and Aaron Rodgers (111.9)
Career In Minnesota and Washington
Cousins has spent his last four seasons in Minneapolis. He started 63 games since coming to Minnesota. Cousins in his four years has a 68.3% completion percentage, 16,387 yard passing, 124 touchdowns, 36 interceptions, and a passer rating of 103.5.
Prior to signing with the Vikings, Cousins spent six years in Washington. Cousins started only eight games from 2012-2014 and played in an additional six games. Cousins then started every game from 2015-2017. In his three first seasons with Washington, he had a completion percentage of 59%, 3,030 yards passing, 18 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, and a passer rating of 77.5. Cousins improved a lot once he was starting every game. During his three full seasons Cousins had a completion percentage of 67%, throwing for 13,176 yards, 81 touchdowns, 36 interceptions with a passer rating of 97.5.
What This All Means
Well from the statistics above, Cousins only gets better with time. While 2021 wasn’t his best season, he threw for his third most passing yards (4,221), second most touchdowns (33), and third highest passer rating (103.1) He threw his fewest interceptions (7) in a season when throwing for more than 4,000 yards, which he has done six times. Statistically speaking, Cousins is a good quarterback. After 2021, I would statistically say he is a top ten quarterback. He ranked ninth in passing yards, yards per passing attempts, and touchdowns, fourth in passer rating, and was tied for the fourth fewest interceptions in the league. When taking everything into account, Kirk Cousins is still an upper to middle of the pack quarterback; good but not great.
Who The Vikings Can’t Get
Realilistically, I believe the following quarterbacks are untouchable and/or highly unlikely to get traded. In the NFC these would be Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Kyler Murray, Tom Brady, and Dak Prescott. From the AFC this would include Josh Allen, Derrick Carr, Justin Herbert, Russel Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Deshaun Watson. All of these quarterbacks are considered to be at the top. I only include Deshaun Watson because, well, I don’t think anybody wants him right now.
Stay Tune
Parts two and three in the series will be published later this week. In the next article we’ll look at who the Vikings could realistically get at quarterback in the NFC. What quarterbacks do the Vikings have a shot at getting? Is there even a chance that any are better than Kirk Cousins?
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