Kirk Cousins Development Tracker

Yeah... I can't see the left hand of the monkey being groomed, so...
 
Mixed game against the Falcons. Overall I give him a c-. He missed a lot of throws by just a little, the int on the throw to Garcon being one. The receiver slipped on the PIck six so he gets a pass on that one. He did in his presser say he'd have to look at film to see if he could have better rotated protection to account for the free runner. Had a heck of a series getting the O in position for the tying FG. He shows definite flashes. He makes some of those earlier throws, which he normally would make, the end of the game might not have been close.
 
He did alright. I'll give him the same C-. Though he was an eyelash from a D+, IMO.

I don't give him as much of a pass on the last int. either. He looked at the receiver all the way. Would have been incomplete, at best, and may have still been picked. He couldn't get much mustard on that prayer. Might have been able to secure this game in the 1st half if he would have accurate. The 1st int was all him. He was high, and/or behind on too many passes.

The true test will be this week. If he can't shake feeling solely responsible for this loss, which he was NOT, then he's the same guy we saw last year.

Settle down Kirk. Beat the Jets!!!
 
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I finally got to watch the game. I saw the highlight of the OT interception, but I wanted to watch the whole game before commenting on his overall play. I also wanted to hear if Gruden gave any insight on the route that was run on that play.

Overall, Cousins was just ok. He looked a touch off on a lot of throws. Thankfully he is not wildly inaccurate, but something about these road games causes him to be off. Similar to the Giants game, he had a lot of throws behind his receivers. The first INT is an example. I still like the poise he showed throughout the game. He doesn't seem to get rattled like he has in the past. His drive at the end of regulation was great. I'm used to seeing other QBs around the league do that, but the Redskins never seem to do it. I'm glad that he could make a few quick throws to get the team in position for the FG.

As for the final play of the game, that's on Cousins. Gruden's comments today said that Grant was supposed to run a stop. But if you watch the play again, Cousins didn't throw it to that spot, he threw it to the outside. If Grant can stay on his feet, maybe he can lunge and get a hand on the ball. But the throw was rushed because of the pressure and was inaccurate which led to the end of the game. Gruden even said in his remarks today that maybe that ball is incomplete if Grant stays on his feet.

Even though he didn't have a great game, I'm not discouraged by his play yesterday. I like that he is sticking in there even after making a mistake. And I like that the team is still fighting right until the end. This is how you grow. You learn from your mistakes and you learn what to do better next time.
 
You don't watch him play and think, "He sucks". I still think it takes game experience to come together for any QB. He's getting it, and is improving in some areas. Hope he can make the transition from a mistake prone QB to a consistent one.
 
You guys are certainly entitled to your grades. I grade Kirk on a different scale. Its like this.....we are a 4 win team. With little changes offensively. However, what I see is a team performing way better than last year, although 18.5 pts per game is hardly where we want to be. My grades for Kirk are much higher, simply because the way we are playing is better than last year's debacle.

Look at it another way, Kirk's leading the team in OT to win. He pulled off the tie with 24 seconds left. If you don't want to give credit for that in your grade, I say shame on you. Had Kirk indeed drove us to the touchdown in overtime. He grades out an A. Its a far cry from C- to A. So I think since we were actually on the verge of pulling off the major upset to an undefeated team on the road, with the best RB and WR in the game (at least fantasy pts say so) this needs to be reflected. We never saw this last year. Now hear this: There is no style points in football. Win you get all the accolades, lose you go home and listen to everyone say how bad you are. We are not a come from behind team, and we must win ugly. That's us. That's the way football go. We proved we can play with the best.
 
Ok, you've gone too far. Kirk was bad yesterday for a while. The last throw was at best problematic and at worse, completely his fault. He missed several throws that would have clinched it. Hell, we got the ball off a turnover on their 28 and only managed at FG.

A C seems more than fair to me.

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I think the jury is still out on Cousins.

We'll know a lot more about him as the season progresses.

I recently read where we'll have to pay him somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million to play next season.

He still has a lot to prove to command that kind of salary over say, a drafted, cheaper rookie QB.
 
McD5 said:
I recently read where we'll have to pay him somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million to play next season.
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He will get paid whatever the market value is for him, those numbers are more likely considerations if either of the franchise tags are in the discussion.

Yeah, the other young QB's were signed significant sums after impressive performances. If Griff had actually followed the unencumbered path to success many had hoped for then those numbers would be the in the neighborhood.

Not sure Kirk has made it to that level yet but ya never know.
 
I think many of us are placing a lot of expectations on Cousins...probably with some merit, he is replacing who many of us thought would be the future of this team. It's Gus Ferrotte/Heath Shuler all over again...only difference is Kirk isn't quite as good a Ferrotte at this point and Shuler is nowhere near as dynamic as Griffin was.

However, we are in the same boat, we busted on the "savior" and we are hoping the 2nd tier (At best) QB will save us from looking completely stupid for trading so much for Griffin.

I think it's safe to say, Cousins is no world beater. I know...patience. Kirk can be better, I don't doubt that. But I don't think he will never be anymore than a 2nd tier QB in this league. I think he can win at least 4 more games this year, the schedule is friendly enough for us to do so, he may even go on to have a decent season next year. I just don't think he'll ever break top 10 in this league. And I think we'll need at least that to succeed.

I do believe Cousins is proving to be far better than anything else we have on this roster. I know many still think Robert can be successful, but if we've learned anything over the first 5 games of the season, it's that Robert on the sideline not dressed for the game is exactly where he belongs if for nothing else than the drama he brings to the table.

The off-season will be interesting. Do we favor a veteran from another team looking for a fresh start to tide us over, or will Kirk earn a chance at the starting job next year? At this point it's impossible to know for sure. However, I can tell you this...there is no one in college coming out this year who should touch the field as a starter next season, so Kirk does stand a chance if he can continue to progress through the season.
 
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Goaldeje said:
Ok, you've gone too far. Kirk was bad yesterday for a while. The last throw was at best problematic and at worse, completely his fault. He missed several throws that would have clinched it. Hell, we got the ball off a turnover on their 28 and only managed at FG.

A C seems more than fair to me.

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comparisons among players year on end are completely faulty in my book.

1) totally different o-line

2) totally different defense

3) vastly revamped coaching staff

4) new GM restocking roster with bonafide FA and draft talent

It's basic science: in order for a comparison to have any value all the variables but one have to be held constant. that is clearly not the case here (i.e., controlled outcomes). not possible. the changes have been so pronounced that employing wins/losses, at best, can only validate or invalidate the collective set of changes that were made. the colloquial way of putting it - too much apples/oranges thinking in play.

I don't know where Kirk is going to end up. I have been harping since preseason on his inconsistency and accuracy. we'll see what Cavanaugh can do over the long haul.
 
McD5 said:
I recently read where we'll have to pay him somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million to play next season./QUOTE]

Right now, I say his contract should look something like Brian Hoyer's (2 years, $10.5M, $5M guaranteed)... However, he'll probably want something in the Foles range (which is about $12.5M/yr). Of course, these numbers are based on THIS year's value, not next year's value which could be a bit more.

If his market value is in the $20M range, you might as well let him go and stick with RGIII at $16.1M next year.
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The more that I think about it, the more I'm annoyed with fans & team... We're averaging fewer than 20 points per game right now. Why do people think Kirk Cousins is so much better than RGIII right now?

As I stated in another thread here, Cousins is on track to have a worse season than RGIII had in 2013 when Kyle Shanahan was coordinator. In 2014, both players had a new coach & a new system to learn. RGIII's season was interrupted by the dislocated ankle after starting to look pretty good in the Jaguars game. Remember, at that time he was 2-3 and the only incomplete pass was the long DJax catch that was ruled incomplete by instant replay (questionable, really). He returned in week 9 (Kirk Cousins was benched and lost job to McCoy during this period). The week 9 game against Minnesota was a fairly decent return for RGIII, but the game was lost predominantly because Haslett's defense couldn't stop Bridgewater. We scored 26 points in that game... He followed that up with 2 bad games against the Bucs & 49ers and was benched in favor of Colt McCoy. McCoy proceeded to suck in 2 straight games and then was injured against the Giants. RGIII came in against the Giants and had a good first half, but the momentum and game was altered before halftime TD run by RGIII that was overturned by replay. The Redskins then went on to defeat the Eagles 27-24 (how many times have the Redskins scored 27 this year?)... They went on to get crushed by the Cowboys in a meaningless game. So, 2014, Griffin had season and development interrupted by injury and a worthless benching to a journeyman who had the coach's favor.

RGIII started the preseason as the presumptive starter, got injured in preseason and has apparently lost his starting job to Cousins who basically won the job on the back of a good preseason, playing predominantly against 2nd & 3rd stringers... WTF has Cousins actually done that inspires such devotion in both coaches and fans? We aren't scoring points, we aren't winning games.
 
Week Five (OP udated).

Week Five

25-19 road loss to Atlanta Falcons

21 for 32 (65.6%), 219 yds (6.8 ypa), 1 TD, 2 INT, 1 sack (0 yds), QB rating 69.7

Season:

126 for 185 (68.1%), 1224 yds (6.62 yda), 5 TD, 6 INT, 6 sacks (31 yds), QB rating 81.9

*

This one will hurt Kirk. He didn't "lose the game," but he didn't win it, either. And his team needed him to. And he had opportunities. Games are won and lost on a handful of key plays late in games, and he had chances to make plays that would have both won his team a monster game and perhaps redefined him in the eyes of many. Instead, for at least another week, he remains a guy who could still become a legitimate NFL starter, but could just as easily become just another guy who was almost good enough.

Here's what jumps out at me:

HOME (3 starts) 75 for 104 (72.1%), 689 yds (6.63 yda), 3 TD, 2 INT, QB rating 91.4
AWAY (2 starts) 51 for 81 (63.0%), 535 yds (6.61 ypa), 2 TD, 4 INT, QB rating 69.7

Next week's road game against NY Jets and the number one defense in the league in both scoring and yards, could not be much bigger for young Captain Kirk.
 
tr1 said:
Can we get some footage on Kirk's foot work?

Maybe some shots of open receivers he's throwing behind?
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As previously stated, any and all film breakdown contributions are welcome.
 
Smoot Point said:
RGIII started the preseason as the presumptive starter, got injured in preseason and has apparently lost his starting job to Cousins who basically won the job on the back of a good preseason, playing predominantly against 2nd & 3rd stringers... WTF has Cousins actually done that inspires such devotion in both coaches and fans? We aren't scoring points, we aren't winning games.
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It was not because he was injured that he lost the job in pre-season...it was because he could not move the offense when given the chance. You realize that post-rookie season, he has not had a single TD in pre-season?

The play that got him hurt was straight out of the Keystone Cops playbook. He had the outlet 5 yards in front of him (wide open), he does not read it therefore not reacting to the outlet, he takes off, he fumbles the ball without contact and gets a "concussion" trying to recover it. And you want to give him a pass for losing the starting job because of injury?

Couple his inability to see the field with the drama he brings to the table and you cannot see that Kirk Cousins, who shows leadership but lacks the physical talent, is not better for this team?
 
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