His YPA fell from 7.4 to 6.7 from the first eight games to the last eight games, ultimately putting him 24th in the league. Cousins, though, was on pace for 5,000 yards and averaging 20.6 fantasy points per game until the Minnesota offense imploded at midseason. He was one of seven quarterbacks with 4,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns, and only Matt Ryan had fewer interceptions than Cousins' 10 among that group. Cousins' efficiency will keep him productive, but his ceiling looks capped.Ĭousins' first season in Minnesota was a fantasy success, even if his team underachieved and finished 19th in scoring (22.5 points per game). But there's not much after that, especially among the wideouts. And Cousins has decent targets in TEs Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith and RB Dalvin Cook. Adam Thielen returns, looking to stay healthy after an injury-plagued season. Jefferson ran a 4.43 40, but if he doesn't develop quickly, the offense will be left without a field-stretcher. Stefon Diggs, who complained about the lack of passing, was shipped to Buffalo, replaced by Justin Jefferson, the 22nd pick in this year's draft. And it's possible the Vikings rely on the running game even more this year after ranking third in rushing percentage last season (49.1). Offensive coordinator Keven Stefanski left for the head job in Cleveland, but the offense he called last year belonged to assistant head coach Gary Kubiak - who was named the new OC - so don't expect a departure from the run-first approach. In fact, no qualified QB had a lower percentage of attempts in the 11-20-yard range than Cousins (13.5 percent), and he ranked fourth in percentage of attempts within five yards of the line of scrimmage (57.2). He completed 73.4 percent (6th) on play action and tied Lamar Jackson for the league lead with 11 TDs, but overall his average depth of target was just 8.1 yards (22nd) as the offense was basically dink-and-dunk with occasional deep shots. Cousins still had a decent number of downfield attempts - resulting in eight TDs (2nd) - but he relied mostly on a short-passing game based off play action. Without rushing stats to offset any touchdown regression, Cousins is not likely to match his three-year high QB11 fantasy ranking from last season, but he is still handy in two-quarterback leagues.Īfter 606 attempts in 2018, Cousins dropped to 444 last season, as the Vikings fully committed to a run-first offense. Dalvin Cook provides a solid running game and a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Nevertheless, Cousins has excellent playmakers to target in Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson, who dominated as a rookie. Expect that number to fall closer to the league-average 26.3 percent this season. Twenty-five of those touchdowns came in the red zone, where he posted a 40.3 TD pass percentage, second in the league. Cousins doesn't have the arm to exploit a deep-passing attack, and his career-high 35 touchdown passes look ripe for regression. After the bye, those numbers flipped to 51.3 and a mere 8.2 percent as his average target depth fell from 9.7 to 7.1 yards. In the first six games, 45.7 percent of his attempts were less than five yards from the line of scrimmage, while a hefty 17.7 percent were 20-plus yards. The improvement came as Cousins reverted to his short-passing ways of 2019. After the bye, he totaled 24 TD passes and three interceptions with a 69.2 completion percentage. In the first six weeks, Cousins had 11 TD passes and 10 interceptions, completing 64.6 percent of his throws. Read Past OutlooksĬousins looked like one of the league's worst quarterbacks early last season before turning things around following Minnesota's Week 7 bye. Cousins’ lack of mobility limits his ceiling, but he should at least finish near his QB11 fantasy rank from both of the past two seasons. TE Irv Smith, who missed last season with a knee injury, is younger and more athletic than Tyler Conklin, now with the Jets. Osborn form a strong WR trio, and Dalvin Cook is one of the league’s best running backs. The Vikings certainly don't lack for playmakers Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and K.J. In any event, Zimmer was fired after last season and new coach Kevin O’Connell (for whom Cousins played in Washington in 2017) promises to bring a Rams-like offense after serving as offensive coordinator in Los Angeles last year. But Cousins threw deep at a good clip last season (14.1 percent, 7th), placing sixth in average target depth (8.2) and ranking third both with 79 attempts of 20-plus yards and eight TD passes on those throws.

He’s been criticized - most prominently by former coach Mike Zimmer - for being risk-averse and not taking more shots downfield. Last year he also did a good job taking care of the ball, ranking second only to Aaron Rodgers in INT rate (1.2 percent).

Cousins might not be elite, but he’s sure consistent - the only quarterback with at least 3,500 passing yards and 25 TD passes each of the last seven seasons.

Kirk cousins stts