Vikings Training Camp 2019: Previewing the quarterbacks

The Starter: Kirk Cousins

What if I told you that the Vikings can get a starting quarterback who threw for over 4,000 yards, 30 touchdowns, and only 10 interceptions while also leading his team to two wins over the Green Bay Packers last season? Would you be interested?

How about if I told you that quarterback would be Kirk Cousins?

Such was the season that the Minnesota signal-caller had in 2018. Things were good at the beginning of the year for Cousins. During his first seven games with the Vikings last season, he completed 70 percent of his passes for 2,162 yards, 14 touchdowns, and only three interceptions.

After that, Cousins didn’t play awful as his completion percentage roughly stayed the same (70.26) and he threw for 16 more touchdowns and seven additional interceptions. However, the big plays were gone and by the end of the season, Cousins and Adam Thielen were seen on the sidelines having a shouting match.

While many are quick to blame Cousins for Minnesota’s disappointing performance last year, there are things that weren’t his fault such as an awful offensive line, an uncreative offensive coordinator, and a rushing attack that ranked 30th without the services of a fully healthy Dalvin Cook.

Many of those excuses are now gone heading into this season as the Vikings promoted Kevin Stefanski to be the full-time offensive coordinator and they also added Gary Kubiak, who once coaxed a Pro Bowl season out of Matt Schaub, as an offensive consultant. Minnesota’s offensive line has been upgraded as well and Cook should be healthier than ever heading into this year’s training camp.

In essence, this will be the beginning of a contract year for Cousins despite being signed through 2020. If he can’t will the Vikings deep into the playoffs this season, it’s possible Minnesota could tap into a talented quarterback draft class next year or even head back to the drawing board altogether.