Andrew Buller-Russ
Everyone has their own opinion on Kirk Cousins, and they range all over the place, from some thinking he shouldn’t even be a starter to others believing he can help lead a team to a Super Bowl victory. Chances are, your opinion on the Minnesota Vikings quarterback was formed long before the recent Netflix TV series debuted.
Talent evaluators, ones actually on the payroll of NFL teams, were asked to rank the current crop of starting quarterbacks across the league. It’s an annual tradition, and here at Sportsnaut, we do the same thing in the offseason and weekly throughout the year. But we don’t quite enjoy the same inside access to coaches, scouts, and NFL GMs as others do.
So we’ll turn the attention over to Mike Sando of The Athletic, who had a chance to poll 50 current NFL coaches and executives on how they’d rank 30 NFL starting QBs today.
They broke down each classification of QB play by placing different players in different sectors. Tier 1 is the best, and Tier 4, including the likes of Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, and Sam Howell, is the worst.
The other results were interesting, but one aspect specifically stuck out when browsing the list. According to the results from those within the NFL, Kirk Cousins is in the same tier as former MVP winner Lamar Jackson and last year’s runner-up Jalen Hurts.
All three signal-callers were placed in the second tier of QB talent, just below the very best, and a tier above the ‘legitimate starter who needs a heavy running game/strong defense to win.’ Meanwhile, they classified Tier 2 as a “quarterback who can carry his team sometimes but not as consistently. He can handle pure passing situations in doses but has a hole or two in his game.”
We know this to be true for Cousins, as he has to seek alternative methods to gain the edge on the gridiron, knowing his athletic limitations won’t push him over the top. So far, putting in extra work away from the field has helped Cousins get into the Tier 2 of QB ranks, where he’s in the same conversation as MVP contenders.
The other players ranked with Cousins, in numerical order, are as follows:
- 6. Jalen Hurts
- 7. Lamar Jackson
- 8. Trevor Lawrence
- 9. Dak Prescott
- 10. Matthew Stafford
- 11. Deshaun Watson
- 12. Kirk Cousins
Then, Tier 3 begins. So while Cousins is in Tier 2, he’s at the very bottom of the pack. But all those other players before him are annual Pro Bowl selections.
In other words, despite entering the NFL as a fourth-round pick, Cousins continues to do quite well for himself, but he still has ground to make up before achieving the ultimate goal of bringing the Vikings their first Super Bowl win.
Related: NFL QB Rankings: See how Sportsnaut ranks the starting QBs
