11. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
And we. Are. Off.
As a writer I’ve crafted my share of “mea culpa” articles, and one of the most recent was a piece about the Minnesota Vikings passer. Kirk Cousins is viewed with skepticism in most of the NFL world, and I was among that group a season ago when I asked the question of him: “Baker or Chef?”
But then last season happened, and when viewed in the context of Cousins’ time in Minnesota, it was time for me to revisit him as a quarterback. Statistically, Cousins has been one of the better passers in the league over the past two years, and his ANY/A of 8.15 was seventh-best in the NFL. he also saw an increase of 5% from his expected Completion Percentage to his actual Completion Percentage, third-best in the league.
Play-action passing is where Cousins is at his best, and playing for Kevin Stefanski he found many such opportunities. Out of his 481 total dropbacks last season, 151 of those were on play-action plays. That accounted for a 31.4% mark, fifth-highest in the league. On those designs, Cousins led the way with a 129.2 NFL passer rating on play-action, tops in the NFL. He also posted averaged 9.7 Yards per Attempt on play-action, and threw for 14 touchdowns, tying Lamar Jackson for the league high.
But he also impressed when pressured. Cousins had an Adjusted Completion Percentage of 73.0% when under pressured, behind only Drew Brees and Derek Carr.
Stefanski is now in Cleveland, where he hopes to bring some of that to the Browns and Baker Mayfield. But stepping into his shoes is the veteran offensive mind Gary Kubiak, whose system is very similar conceptually to what Stefanski was calling for Cousins a season ago. Given this, you can expect a similar level of play from the veteran passer in 2020.