Why the Vikings should wait on a Kirk Cousins extension
By Dean Jones
Cousins’ restrictions
Much has been made of Kirk Cousins’ style of play and his restrictions on the field. There is no doubting his qualities in certain areas, but there are also are some elements that raise significant concern.
His inability to move around in the pocket is something that has put enormous pressure on him during his time with the Vikings. Cousins is your stereotypical pocket-passer, but he gets extremely flustered when put under pressure.
This is something that came to the forefront during Minnesota’s playoff defeat in San Francisco last season and it has plagued his career so far. The Vikings offensive line made improvements in 2019, but they did not do Cousins any favors at certain moments during the year.
The quarterback’s accuracy has been high, but he has a tendency to take a little too much time to go through his progressions. This is something Cousins does not have time to do in the NFL.
Pass-rushers are quicker and more athletic than ever before and they smell blood when Cousins drops back to pass.
Cousins got a lot of joy out of the bootleg last season, but when running back Dalvin Cook was shut down, then so seemingly went the Vikings’ chances of succeeding with this type of play. New Minnesota offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak needs to come up with a scheme that has an imaginative contingency plan that can buy Cousins the necessary time to make the throws down the field.
Whether Cousins has the ability to make adjustments to his game this late in his career is another matter.