The case for Kirk Cousins to the Denver Broncos in 2022
If the Broncos fail to acquire either Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers during the 2022 NFL offseason, they should try to pry away Kirk Cousins from Minnesota.
Most of us can about guarantee that the Denver Broncos will make a move involving the quarterback position this offseason, but the move that they make can vary.
The team can draft a rookie signal-caller, acquire another mid-tier veteran, or swing for the fences and try to make a significant acquisition.
Let’s say that Russell Wilson gets traded to another team, and Aaron Rodgers stays put in Green Bay.
If you’re the Denver Broncos, what do you do in this situation? The common answer might be to retain Teddy Bridgewater and draft someone in the 2022 NFL Draft, but I don’t think that should be the next best choice.
To me, the next best choice is trying to pry Kirk Cousins away from the Minnesota Vikings.
To some, Kirk Cousins is the best worst quarterback or the worst best quarterback. No one really knows where he should be viewed among the league’s best. It seems like most people put him somewhere between the 12th-15th best quarterback in the NFL, which seems appropriate.
However, during his time in Minnesota, he hasn’t exactly been given the best of situations.
My goal here is to make the strongest case possible for Kirk Cousins. I think he is a much better quarterback than he’s viewed as, and I hope I can change some minds after finishing this piece.
So, let’s get started.
To begin, I want to look at what he’s done on the football field, especially since arriving in Minnesota before the 2018 NFL season.
Since his career began with the Vikings, Cousins has put up the following numbers:
116 touchdown passes, 32 interceptions, 15,519 passing yards, a 68.9% completion percentage, and a passer rating of 104.2.
Guys, I know Kirk Cousins isn’t considered an elite quarterback, but just imagine, for a second, if he signed with the Broncos before the 2018 season and gave us the same exact performance?
Let’s compare this stretch with other notable quarterbacks since 2018.
Taking a look at this comparison with Russell Wilson, Cousins has completed a higher percentage of his passes, for 1,700 more yards, only four fewer touchdown passes, and just three more interceptions.
Kirk Cousins, since 2018, has given us a near-identical output compared to Russell Wilson. He’s also taken 47 fewer sacks than Wilson, as well.
Let’s compare Cousins to Tom Brady now. Since 2018, Cousins has thrown 9 fewer interceptions, completed nearly 4% more of his passes, and has a passer rating 7 points higher than Brady.
Not convinced yet? Let’s compare him to Aaron Rodgers now. Cousins has thrown only 6 fewer touchdowns than Rodgers since 2018, completing 3.8% more of his passes, and has a passer rating that is just .3 points less than Rodgers.
Statistically, Kirk Cousins is on par with all of Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers since 2018.
I want to look at offensive line play now since Kirk Cousins has had the misfortune of playing behind a horrid offensive line in Denver.
Looking at offensive line play, there are quite a few articles that rank the Vikings offensive line rather low. This article from theundroppables.com gives puts the Vikings offensive line at 26th best in the NFL.
This article, which just released on Tuesday from ESPN, details various win rates among offensive and defensive lines. Scrolling down, we’ll find that, according to the article, the Minnesota Vikings offensive line ranks an abysmal 27th in the NFL, with a measly 54% pass block win rate.
For comparison, the Broncos rank 18th, with a 59% win rate.
I’d argue that the Vikings only have one quality offensive lineman. Brian O’Neill is a stud at right tackle, and he just signed a massive contract extension, but Minnesota’s line outside of him is poor, at best.
Lastly, a large reason why the Vikings haven’t played well in recent years is because of their bad defense. In 2020, they ranked 29th in the NFL in points allowed, allowing a whopping 29.7 per game. However, they ranked 11th in points scored, with a respectable 26.9 points per game.
This year isn’t much better. While they are scoring 26 points per game, they’re also allowing the 7th most points per game, at 25.4
Kirk Cousins is a good quarterback who would make the Denver Broncos a much better team. He’s been consistent for years.