Kirk Cousins should invest in more rib protection for 2023

Coming off of a 2022 season where he was hit more than any quarterback in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings haven't done much to help protect Kirk Cousins.

Minnesota Vikings fans have been glued to their TV screens during the last few days watching "Quarterback", the Netflix docuseries that followed Kirk Cousins during the entire 2022 season.

One of the biggest takeaways from the show has been the realization of how many brutal hits Cousins took while dropping back last year. The Vikings quarterback dealt with a rib injury throughout most of the season, and the docuseries allowed fans to understand how much pain Cousins was truly dealing with each week.

Luckily for the veteran signal-caller, Minnesota totally revamped their offensive line this offseason in order to prevent Cousins from becoming the most-hit quarterback in the NFL again like he was in 2022. Oh wait, no they didn't.

Minnesota Vikings bringing back the same starting offensive line from 2022 to block for Kirk Cousins next season

Cousins was hit a league-leading 88 times last season, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. If the Vikings want their veteran quarterback to be available for every game again in 2023, then they probably should have invested more time and resources in improving their offensive line during the last few months.

Instead, they re-signed underwhelming center Garrett Bradbury, and the other four starting linemen from 2022 are expected to keep their roles next season.

There are ways that Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell can help Cousins take less of a beating out on the field by implementing different play calls into his game plans each week. But until that actually happens, there's no reason to believe that the Vikings quarterback is going to be protected by his offensive linemen any better in 2023.

Cousins already wears a super-sized flak jacket around his upper body to protect his ribs for each game. For the upcoming season, however, he might want to consider just wearing a full suit of armor since the chances of him ending up as one of the most hit quarterbacks again currently seem pretty high.