Kirk Cousins All the Way Snubbed from Recent QB Rankings
Dustin Baker
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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins evidently doesn’t belong among the league’s Top 12 passers — if Bleacher Report is to be believed.
The football media entity released post-draft quarterback power rankings this week, and Cousins wasn’t mentioned whatsoever, instead making room for Jared Goff (Lions), Geno Smith (Seahawks), and honorable mentions Justin Fields (Bears) + Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins).
Kirk Cousins All the Way Snubbed from Recent QB Rankings
But such is life for anything related to Cousins, with rankings such as Bleacher Report‘s, causing division and eyerolls from Vikings fans.
BR’s Kristopher Knox ranked these men as his Top 10 quarterbacks at the moment, with Fields and Tagovailoa looking in as honorable mentions.
- Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
- Jalen Hurts (Eagles)
- Joe Burrow (Bengals)
- Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars)
- Josh Allen (Bills)
- Lamar Jackson (Ravens)
- Justin Herbert (Chargers)
- Aaron Rodgers (Jets)
- Geno Smith (Seahawks)
- Jared Goff (Lions)
A lot is going on with Knox’s list — Lawrence over Allen already, Geno Smith instead of Dak Prescott, Jared Goff atop Kirk Cousins or Tua Tagovailoa — but at least the top dog, Mahomes, is finally indisputable. Generally around this time on the calendar, NFL talking heads try to convince themselves that Allen or Burrow has lapped Mahomes but then face a wicked reality several months down the road when Mahomes is still very much the best football player on the planet.
On Cousins, no one is too upset about his exclusion from the Top 10, but tossing Goff and Fields in front of the 34-year-old is a little sketchy. By the numbers — EPA+CPOE, DVOA, Pro Football Focus, and passer rating — Fields was one of the worst quarterbacks in football last year, but nobody cared because he ran fast and finally played not-horribly.
Knox asserted about Fields, “If Fields can make positive strides as a passer while remaining an elite scrambler, he’ll quickly become one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league.”
A constant knock on Cousins throughout his Vikings tenure is his “inability to win when everything isn’t perfect.” Then, in 2022, he was accompanied by the league’s 31st-ranked (defense), guided the team to an NFL-record-setting 11-0 record in one-score games, and tied an all-time single-season record for game-winning drives (8) and 4th Quarterback Comebacks (8).
Thereafter, Cousins’ detractors shrugged shoulders and implied, “Well, I still don’t like him. Makes a lot of money.”
Interestingly, as of May 4th, Cousins is tentatively scripted for his final year in Minnesota. The Vikings front office has not extended his contract beyond 2023, a maneuver usually enacted by now.
Perhaps the team is waiting to see if he can excel even more during Year Two with head coach Kevin O’Connell. Cousins told reporters this week he wants to remain in Minnesota indefinitely.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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