Grading every Minnesota Vikings position group from the 2020 season

Quarterbacks

The Vikings rolled the dice again in 2020 by having Sean Mannion as their No. 2 quarterback behind Kirk Cousins. The purple and gold got lucky once again though and Mannion didn’t have to take a snap at all during the 2020 season as Cousins was the only signal-caller to attempt a pass for the team.

Cousins put together a great season statistically. He ended up throwing for 4,265 yards and 35 touchdowns to go with 13 interceptions while also adding 156 rushing and one touchdown on 32 carries.

Cousins’ touchdown to interception ratio of 2.69 from this past season is very impressive. It is even more impressive when one considers that he was sacked 39 times and pressured at an extremely high rate, but he was still able to complete 67.6 percent of his passes behind Minnesota’s extremely shaky offensive line.

Cousins did get some help from a group of pass-catchers in 2020 that included potential Offensive Rookie of the Year Justin Jefferson and two-time Pro Bowl receiver Adam Thielen. The quarterback’s relationship with these two players was exceptionally strong during the 2020 campaign.

The biggest negative for Cousins this year was his ball security. The Vikings quarterback fumbled the ball nine times in 2020, which is a sad trend considering he’s had nine or more fumbles during each of his previous seasons since he became the Washington Football Team’s starting signal-caller back in 2015.

Cousins’ performance during the 2020 season was very good, but it could have been better. There were still times when he made bad decisions, held on to the ball far too often, or forced things he shouldn’t have.

But, as a whole, having Cousins make a few errors here and there is much better than anything that could have happened with Mannion on the football field.

2020 Grade: B