JJBreaksRecords wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 8:32 pm
J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:03 pm
OK this is probably going to come off as overly sensitive, but I have to ask …
Are you saying that if someone rates Kirk Cousins higher than the 10th-best player on his own team, then that person isn’t an objective observer?
I think it’s entirely reasonable for an objective observer to rate Kirk Cousins higher than 10th best on the Vikings. I certainly rank him higher than that, and I’m far from a Cousins apologist.
In addition, I believe that with an offense where the forward pass isn’t a last resort and is actually built to take advantage of Cousins’ strengths, we could see him take a pretty big step forward in 2022.
Whats Cousins done here or in WAS to make you feel that. High stats which are basically meaningless unless we win the big game? A lot of playoffs wins? Or do you think the rest of the team is that bad?
A few reasons he COULD take steps forward this year.
1. I believe the O-line will be improved. Darrisaw is settled in now at LT, and if Reed is even league average at RG, we're better than last year.
2. Really good skill position players.
3. Cousins DID improve in late-game situations last year. Yes, most of those games were against inferior competition, but he had several quality performances late in games, including against Green Bay.
4. The biggest reason for my optimism, however, is Kevin O'Connell. Every single coach from the McVay tree — LaFleur, Taylor and Staley — is having success. I see no reason that O'Connell won't. He brings intelligence, a positive attitude, and a bonafide quality offensive system with him from LA. It's a system that got Jared Goff to a Super Bowl. It's a system that will take advantage of what Kirk Cousins does well, which is go through his progressions. According to a number of credible things I've read and heard, the big difference for Cousins will be that he will go to the line with multiple play, formation and motion options. He'll call the play from those options based on what he sees pre-snap. In his previous four years with the Vikings, the play was called in the huddle, and I'm not convinced he had authority to audible or override it. Cousins may not be very good off-script, but he's an intelligent guy, so if he can get the Vikings in the right play consistently, I believe he can have a lot of success. It's not the same system he had in Washington. O'Connell was his QB coach. That's the only similarity. I believe both men have learned a lot since then.
Will Cousins take a step forward? No one knows. It's a new system, so there will likely be growing pains. Even if he learns it really well, the rest of his team also has to learn it and execute it. So I'm not predicting a big step forward. But I also won't be surprised if it happens.
If he does, are we talking MVP level? Not likely. He's just not good enough when plays break down, and he doesn't have an MVP reputation. But you don't need to have the league MVP on your roster to compete for a Super Bowl. In fact, the last MVP to play for a Super Bowl winning team was Kurt Warner in 1999. The NFL MVP has only PLAYED in the Super Bowl 5 times since then, including 1999.
In order to make a playoff run, we need Kirk Cousins to play the best football of his career. If he's ever going to do it, this is the best opportunity he's had.