Looking at the top 10 quarterbacks of 2018 list from David Carr, it seems his expectations for Vikings passer Kirk Cousins are not exceptionally high.
The Minnesota Vikings paid a lot of money to bring quarterback Kirk Cousins to the team in free agency this year to stabilize the position and hopefully take the team to the Super Bowl for the first time since January 9, 1977.
While Cousins isn’t usually mentioned among elite quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, or Drew Brees, he’s typically considered well above average having thrown for over 4,000 yards in each of his last three seasons with the Washington Redskins and has moved to a more offensively talented team in Minnesota.
However, former NFL quarterback and NFL.com analyst David Carr assembled his list of the top quarterbacks for 2018 and the man with a three-year fully-guaranteed $84 million contract was nowhere to be seen.
Minnesota Vikings
But Cousins had to be included in the “Just Missed” portion of the list, right? He’s one of the top 13 passers in the league for sure.
Nope. No sign of Cousins there either. In fact, the entire article doesn’t mention the new Minnesota quarterback at all, yet shows some heavy bias and really hurts his analytical integrity by listing his brother Derek in the number three spot.
Here are some stats from 2017 on NFL.com that prove Cousins deserves to be among the top 10 quarterbacks:
- 7th in passing yards (4,093)
- 8th in touchdown passes (27)
- 8th in passing first downs (191)
- 5th in plays of 20+ yards (59)
- Tied for 9th in plays of 40+ yards (9)
Not including Cousins among the top 13 quarterbacks in the NFL is an absolute travesty. After moving to a team with a dynamic receiving duo in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs along with tight end Kyle Rudolph and running back Dalvin Cook should do wonders for his statistic during the 2018 NFL season.
Next: The 30 greatest Vikings players of all-time
At the very least, Kirk Cousins should have been an honorable mention when it comes to the top quarterback entering the 2018 seasons, but perhaps fans of the Minnesota Vikings just have higher expectations for their new passer.