Insult Cousins … but Praise Jefferson?
Dustin Baker
|
Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson is embroiled in a slobberknocker Offensive Rookie of the Year (OROY) race with Los Angeles Chargers signal-caller, Justin Herbert. For much of the season, the race was of the two-horse variety featuring Herbert and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals. Regrettably, Burrow was socked with a gruesome knee injury and will now miss the rest of 2020, at a minimum. There was a time not long ago when Burrow would probably miss most of 2021, too, but medical advances have established significantly quicker timetables for recovery in recent years. With any luck, Burrow will be back in the orange and black saddle early next September.
It’s Herbert and Jefferson right now, although Jacksonville Jaguars tailback James Robinson deserves a consolation prize. Robinson has been an unsung star, but residency in Jacksonville this year mandates no such OROY consideration. The team is 1-11 after coming up short versus Minnesota in Week 13.
Jefferson boasts 1,039 receiving yards, seven touchdowns, and a team record of 6-6. Herbert’s at 23 touchdowns passes, nine interceptions, a 92.4 passer rating, and a team record of 3-9. Awards such as these frequently skew in the favor of quarterbacks as they are perceived as leaders more so than skill-position players. Ergo, Jefferson was behind the eight-ball from the onset.
In VikingVerse, Jefferson is universally accepted as a tremendous asset and a homerun selection by general manager Rick Spielman. The man throwing Jefferson the pigskin – Kirk Cousins – is universally mired by hot-button debate.
Whether one thinks Cousins is an apt passer is moot pertaining to Jefferson’s stardom. If Jefferson is championed by onlookers, Cousins needs his praise, as well.
Cousins is Good – Whether You Like Him or Not
A usual tidbit: Kirk Cousins has the sixth-highest passer rating in NFL history. If you’re in the “Never Cousins” camp of PurpleVille, you must categorically announce that the NFL’s sixth-best quarterback ever via passer rating is “not good enough” for the Vikings. Are you prepared to do that? You better be. These are the stakes.
The 32-year-old is one of the league’s most consistent passers. He is the only player in the business to toss 25+ touchdown passes in each of the last six seasons. No one else has done that – not Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, nobody.
Admittedly, Cousins has revolting games – about one or two per season. Cousins loyalists – and naysayers — emphatically recognize and criticize this tendency. In fact, Kirk’s turds are the only facet of his game that separates the man from superstardom.
It Takes Two to Tango
To comprehend the Cousins-Jefferson marriage, you must acknowledge and behold rational thought. As a standalone commodity, Jefferson is an electric football player. He will see quarterbacks in his career with varying degrees of talent that will utilize him differently. With Cousins, the LSU alumnus is happily exploited early and often. Cousins has Jefferson pegged – a young man that needs the ball no matter the route or time of game.
Popular sentiment on Jefferson is that he is playing marvelously “within a great system.” Who’s the captain of the system? That’s Kirk Cousins. Who’s throwing the ball to Jefferson? That’s Kirk Cousins and only Kirk Cousins. When was the last time Mike Zimmer was accredited with the architecture of a great offensive system? He’s an elite mind of offensive football now? That sound you hear is goalposts scraping turf as Kirk birthers drag them accordingly.
It is not compatible for Cousins to be the leader of “a great system,” a mediocre passer, and the rest chalked up to “Jefferson is excellent but Kirk stinks.” Stinky quarterbacks do not lead great systems. Rookie wide receivers do not have gargantuan first years with lousy quarterbacks. Teams don’t revolutionize 1-5 starts to playoff contention – while holding the league’s 26th-ranked defense – with subpar signal-callers.
Cousins is a damn good quarterback. Jefferson is a damn good receiver. That’s all.
Focus Your Frustration on Defense
The Vikings have clawed back to .500 because of – not in spite of – Kirk Cousins. His November performance was the tops in the NFL among quarterbacks, his team has won five of six games, and his passer rating, QBR, and PFF grade have steadily climbed since Week 7.
It’s true Minnesota’s defense has improved since the team’s bye week, but that does not define the unit as stellar all of a sudden. In points allowed, the Vikings remain the league’s seventh-worst defense. Thankfully, Mike Zimmer’s bunch has been terrific in third-down and redzone efficiency. This has masked the inadequacies. What’s more, the youthful players are maturing on the fly. That bodes well for December football.
But the Cousins-Jefferson union is a spark that has spearheaded the season’s about-face. It was not one man alone between the two – it was Cousins and Jefferson. To suggest Jefferson is the showstopper by his lonesome ignores the physics of the football leaving Cousins’ fingertips.
“Jefferson is on the way to winning OROY, but Cousins isn’t very good” is incomprehensible. It’s along the lines of “John Stockton wasn’t that great. He just had Karl Malone.”