QB Kirk Cousins Tracking Thread

Let's try to set a couple of things aside in this thread.

Let's not concern ourselves with the reason Kirk Cousins, for the time being, is the Redskins starting QB. And let's try to avoid veering off into discussion of and/or comparison to the man KC was called upon to replace.

Instead, let's use this space to discuss, debate, and parse in gory detail the actual play and developmental arc, from this point forward, of the man wearing the vertical infinity symbol.

Maybe the best place to start is with the raw data. In 2014 it ain't bad.

After two games:

Record 1-1; 52-81 (64.2%); 677yds (338.5/gm); 5 TD, 1 INT; Rating 105.8

Game 1 vs JAX - a very pleasant surprise. Any time your QB, and team, light up another like Kirk and the Redskins did that day, it's cause for celebration. 41-10 beat-downs just don't happen often in the NFL--not even to the dregs of the league. Even less so by teams that have wandered in the wilderness to the extent the Washington Redskins have these last 23 years.

Game 2 @ PHI - through three quarters it was kind of a revelation. I don't know about anyone else, but count me as one skeptical Redskins fan who was completely surprised and delighted to see Cousins perform like he did. JAX at home is one thing; PHI in Philly is another. But ... and this gets us to the meat of the thread idea ... that game also opened the door for the first Big Question we have about Kirk Cousins. Through three quarters, he was on fire, going 24-for-34, for 292 yards, 2 TD's and no picks. In the fourth quarter, though ... 6-for-14, 135 yards, 0 TD's and a crushing pick. 55 of the 135 yards came on the Helu screen pass; three of the incompletions came on the last, fateful drive, in Philly territory, with the game on the line.

That last part isn't to bash the man--the 34 points generated under his control should have been enough to win. It would have been enough to win or send to overtime 13 of the 16 NFL games played in week two. But his 4th quarter performance, with the game there for the taking, leaves us with the single most important thing to watch for starting against the Giants in week three.

If it's a close game heading into the fourth quarter late tonight, and the Redskins need crucial completions for first downs, to ice the game, or a score to win it ... what will we get from Kirk Cousins?

Cousins has set the bar almost ridiculously high for himself the last two weeks. Tonight he gets a great chance, under the national spotlight against a storied foe, to show the world it hasn't been a mirage.

And away we go ...

Game 3 vs NYG - Fail. No, he didn't much help from his coaches, line or receivers last night, but there really is no way to sugar-coat it. Kirk was exposed. Teams are going to be loading up and coming after him mercilessly from here on out.

19-for-33, 257 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT, Rating 53.0

Cumulative: 71-for-114 (62.2%), 934 yds (311.3/gm), 6 TD, 5 INT, Rating 87.4

Glad you created this one after suggesting it in the other thread.

The 4th quarter concern bears watching for sure. Two games in, everything about his game bears watching for that matter. As you said, he set the bar high, unrealistically so I suspect. It's unfortunate as he did more than enough to win that game going away. I wonder if there are stats for come from behinds for teams during SB runs and how crucial a skill that is. I would think it's most impactful in the Playoffs.

To me most elite QB's are elite not just due to their talent, the timing of the team/coach they are with are major factors. I don't know if KC will be elite or even a very good QB long term, but it seems possible the stars may have aligned for him in terms of this coach and the offensive style the coach prefers.

From what we heard from both KC and Gruden, they seem to know what the cause of the late game performance was and hopefully can correct it. I suspect time in the pocket getting more comfortable late in games is the best remedy. He'll get enough opportunity in the coming weeks to show us if he can. Ultimately, if the offence under KC racks up points like they have these two games, we'll be winning far more games than we have for decades.

Division games can be so unpredictable. Every scenario is in play. I think they're gonna get after Kirk. Or try to. Like most young QB's, Kirk's mechanics get lazy when the heat turns up. He needs the running game to be good for 60 minutes.

I like that he has the bar set so high while remaining so humble. This job isn't his guaranteed and he knows it. To me, that will keep him driving forward and trying to win every game.

He needs to finish games...that last drive in the 4th happens to everyone (especially a rookie for the most part) but he has to be better than that if he wants to win over the fans and gain his own confidence. Griffin did it and it is expected from this level of QB. But I also think he CAN do it if he sets himself up to succeed.

I like Kirk as much as I do Griff. They are 2 totally different players but each bring skills to the table that haven't had to have too much tweaked about the playbook in order to make it work. If anything, Kirk opens it up some because he can get rid of the ball faster and doesn't have to worry about scrambling or getting sacked as much.

I'm on the Gruden bandwagon with respect to statistics. He said, and I agree, stats don't mean squat. The only stat I care about is Cousins W/L record as starter. What is it? 1-4? Its a team game, but unfortunately for the QB, he gets the stat. Brad Johnson never had decent stats, but his W/L record was very good. I want wins for Kirk, I don't care about personal accolades.

Good thread, Om. I got curious and checked a couple situational stats on Cousins from the admittedly small sample set of the three games we've played so far. There are way too many potentially contributing variables to lay blame solely at Kirk's feet for much of this but a couple things of note:

Through the first three games Kirk's passing effectiveness seems to decline as the game wears on.

These came from NFL.com situational stats page.







As I mentioned, contributing components, OL getting tired, inadequate adjustments to changes in opposing defensive attack, things of that sort make it very difficult to attribute cause/effect relationships-how much of what factor is operating here-but even though it makes it difficult if not well nigh impossible to determine how much of this is a weakness in Cousins' QB abilities it may indicate something to keep an eye on.

micks113 said:

I'm on the Gruden bandwagon with respect to statistics. He said, and I agree, stats don't mean squat. The only stat I care about is Cousins W/L record as starter. What is it? 1-4? Its a team game, but unfortunately for the QB, he gets the stat. Brad Johnson never had decent stats, but his W/L record was very good. I want wins for Kirk, I don't care about personal accolades.

Click to expand...

Browns - W
Jags - W

I am not sure of the losses...is he 2-4?

Wins are just a "stat" too, in a very real sense. It's meaningless to look at Kirk's 2-4 without noting the dumpster fire of a team he was handed the reins to at the end of last season. No, he didn't play well. But he was driving a '97 Yugo at Daytona.

This is a new team, with a new system, under a new coach, in a new year. And he's getting a chance to shape a season rather than play out the string on a team already counting the days to offseason break.

Far as I'm concerned, to the extent any QB inherits W-and-L's as a stat, Kirk is 1-1.

It's hard not to love what we generally see from Kirk (I kind of give him a pass for the games in 2013, as our performance as a team was down across the board given all the upheaval and drama). But what I think I saw from Kirk in the 4th quarter of the Philly game was nerves. He looked nervous, he made some uncharacteristically terrible throws, and made some bad decisions. I saw a scared QB who forgot about trying to win it, and was trying not to lose it. That's what I think I saw. Doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, certainly doesn't mean he won't be calmer and more confident as time goes on.

One thing I love about Griffin - whether he is playing incredibly or not so incredibly in a given game - he is FEARLESS. I have never seen him look rattled, unsure, or frenzied. Even if his confidence may seem misplaced at times, Griffin oozes belief.

I'd like to see Kirk get that 'I'm going for the jugular' mentality when it comes to crunch time. You're not the backup right now. You're the starter. Get out there and finish the opponent off and win the damn thing. There's nothing to lose. I don't see that in him yet, but I hope to.

Thanks for the breakdown, serv. Shines the spotlight directly on the biggest question we have about the kid: will he turn into a guy who steps his game up at crunch time, like the truly successful QB's do, or a guy who can't quite bring it home.

Another factor? JAX and PHI games are now on tape. DC's will be getting a bead on him a little better every week, scheming to take away his strengths as they see them.

Based on what I've seen, if I'm gameplanning Kirk, I'm jumping the short stuff and making him show me he can consistently hurt me down the field. He's really good underneath. Intermediate and down the field, he's shown promise but also inconsistency ... particularly at crunch time.

I expect the Giants to slowly, steadily bring their back seven closer to the box as the game progresses, to contain Alfred and not give Kirk the quick stuff. It'll up to Jay, KC and our pass-catchers to make them pay.

One curious thing about Kirk - and that's his long ball. While Kirk certainly doesn't have Jay Cutler's or RG3's arm strength, there are times when he can throw a really pretty and on time long ball, and there are other times where he puts up a wounded floating duck that begs to be intercepted (the kind of downfield pass you see in half of the college games on Saturday, made by college QBs who won't make it to the NFL precisely because they can't make that throw).

I don't understand why sometimes Cousins throws a beautiful deep ball and at other times, appears to be a liability attempting one. It's weird.

I've noticed that, Boone. One thing I see is that unlike ... well, some guys ... he doesn't get seem to get much juice on longer throws when his weight's on his back foot to any degree. Kirk can rifle it when he gets to step in, no question. And his long-ball accuracy is generally pretty damn good. It's when he can't step and throw you tend to see those softballs hanging out there.

Boone said:

One curious thing about Kirk - and that's his long ball. While Kirk certainly doesn't have Jay Cutler's or RG3's arm strength, there are times when he can throw a really pretty and on time long ball, and there are other times where he puts up a wounded floating duck that begs to be intercepted (the kind of downfield pass you see in half of the college games on Saturday, made by college QBs who won't make it to the NFL precisely because they can't make that throw).

I don't understand why sometimes Cousins throws a beautiful deep ball and at other times, appears to be a liability attempting one. It's weird.

Click to expand...

The Jackson TD was one of those "Uh, oh... " moments to me.

Until the TD, of course.

The ball looked like it was hanging in the air like a Reggie Roby Special. How Jackson got that thing and scored with it was amazing to me.

Nick

Coming out of halftime break, the sideline reporter reported that Gruden basically gave Kirk the be careful with the ball, don't make a mistake with it talk at halftime. It struck me as concerning at the time and I wonder if Gruden didn't unintentionally cause Kirk some concern. I also think that at times his mechanics slip causing those balls to flutter. Hopefully more game time breeds more consistency.

Tonight we'll find out a bit about how he handles a slick football too. Gonna be wet out there.

Anyone remember talk surrounding Jason Campbell's smallish hands in that context way back in the day?

Om said:

I've noticed that, Boone. One thing I see is that unlike ... well, some guys ... he doesn't get seem to get much juice on longer throws when his weight's on his back foot to any degree. Kirk can rifle it when he gets to step in, no question. And his long-ball accuracy is generally pretty damn good. It's when he can't step and throw you tend to see those softballs hanging out there.

Click to expand...

I did some more digging to see if he had shown the throwing-off-the-back-foot tendency in college and there were a couple of scouting blurbs that mentioned that-along with occasional "floaters" on long passes.

"Weaknesses: Does not handle pressure in the pocket well, throws off his back foot far too often – Has locked on to receivers at times – Could add some bulk, got shaken by a few hits during the season – Not a great passer when flushed out of the pocket."

Link: Kirk Cousins NFL Draft Scouting Report | NEPatriotsDraft.com - 2014 NFL Draft


"Mechanics/Decision-Making

"Quick release. Throws from a 3/4 angle sometimes that could lead to tipped passes at the next level. Will throw off his back foot or falling backwards, especially when throwing to his left. Has developed a habit of tapping the ball with his left hand before throwing, a tell he would do well to eliminate. Follows through across his body.

Accuracy/Arm Strength

Generally good accuracy on short and intermediate routes. The Spartans' offense calls for a lot of quick, short throws, so he doesn't have to push the ball downfield much. When he does, his accuracy is questionable-to-terrible beyond 20+ yards.

Good zip on short throws across the middle, but doesn't have the arm strength to power the ball across the field to the sideline. His deep balls tend to float, perhaps in part because he struggles to keep a tight spiral."

Link: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Kirk+Cousins+scouting+report

There's just something wrong with discussing a mans hand size.

Not to mention his balls sometimes float.

Just had to go there didn't you...just had to.

We tend to forget what happened in those three games last year (all losses). No one likes a 3-13 season, but Cousin Kirk did a fairly good job. He went 29-45 against Atlanta for 381. We should've won that game (one point loss). The Redskins had another one point loss the next week as he threw for nearly 200 yards and no interceptions.

The final game - well, none of the team wanted to be out there. They knew the HC was a goner. No one on the field cared and it showed. Still, those two previous games featured pretty good games from Kirk even as some players weren't leaving everything on the turf.