3 reasons why Kirk Cousins could be the NFL MVP in 2020

Familiarity with his offense

This might seem pretty obvious to some, but continuing on with the same offensive scheme has proven to be a big factor in the success of a quarterback. Of the nine signal-callers to win the NFL MVP since 2010, eight of them were with teams who ran the same offensive scheme during the previous season.

Kirk Cousins will have a different offensive coordinator in 2020 with Gary Kubiak taking over the job after Kevin Stefanski left to become the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns this year. However, Cousins won’t have to learn a completely new offensive system since the Vikings and Stefanski essentially adopted Kubiak’s successful scheme as their own last season.

If anything, Minnesota’s quarterback could end up having a few more opportunities to throw the ball than he did last year when Stefanski was calling the plays.

During Kubiak’s career as an offensive coordinator and head coach in the NFL, his offenses typically averaged more pass attempts than rush attempts. Last season with Kubiak’s scheme being utilized, the Vikings ran a pretty balanced offensive attack, but they still ended up calling more pass plays than running plays.

With Stefanski no longer the play-caller, perhaps Cousins will get even more chances to throw the ball than he did in 2019. At the very least, Kubiak should have a better idea of what the Minnesota quarterback does well and he’ll use that to his advantage during the upcoming season.