I’m here to make the case for you taking Kirk Cousins as your backup or as your second quarterback in 2QB and super-flex leagues. The man that gave us, “YOU LIKE THAT!” is currently being drafted as QB22 and 148th overall.
What if I told you that you could draft a QB after pick 140 that will put up numbers good enough to rank as a Top 10 QB? Would you like that?
Kirk Cousins Career Review
Over the last four seasons as a starter, Kirk Cousins finished no lower than the 9th ranked quarterback for fantasy football. He finished 4th in 2017, 5th in 2016 and 9th in each of 2015 and 2018.
Last season he set quite a few personal bests:
- Most pass completions
- Best completion percentage
- Most passing touchdowns
- Fewest interceptions
- Most fumbles
I threw fumbles in the list to show one of the reasons folks don’t want to draft him. The general perception is that he isn’t a great “real life” quarterback. Well, in this game of fantasy football, we really don’t care how much of a “
Cousins started all 16 games each of the past 4 seasons and his backup in Minnesota is Sean Mannion. That tells me he is durable and has job security.
Kirk Cousins 2019 Forecast
Here’s a look at his last four seasons and where his supporting cast finished in PPR scoring.
| POS | 2019 ADP* | 2018 Finish | 2017 Finish | 2016 Finish | 2015 Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR1 | A. Thielen (WR10) | A. Thielen (WR8) | J. Crowder (WR32) | P. Garcon (WR22) | P. Garcon (WR32) |
| WR2 | S. Diggs (WR13) | S. Diggs (WR13) | R. Grant (WR53) | J. Crowder (WR30) | J. Crowder (WR52) |
| TE | K. Rudolph (TE14) | K. Rudolph (TE7) | V. David (TE15) | J. Reed (TE9) | J. Reed (TE2) |
| RB | D. Cook (RB11) | D. Cook (RB30) | C. Thompson (RB27) | C. Thompson (RB28) | M. Jones (RB41) |
* FantasyPros ADP as of 7/5; Final ranks based on PPR Scoring
Until last season, Cousins never had a Top 20 wide receiver… and he had two! Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs
This got me to thinking. If the pieces surrounding Cousins are valued so highly, shouldn’t he also benefit from their projected production?
Let’s jump into a hypothetical scenario where ADP becomes reality and each player ends the season right where his ADP is right now… except for quarterback because, well, I want to prove a point. Stay with me on this.
I took a look back over the last four seasons and filtered down to teams that met the following criteria:
- Two WR in Top 15
- One TE in Top 15
- One RB in Top 15
This is based on the current ADP of the Vikings’ position players.
| POS | 2016 Saints | 2018 Steelers | 2017 Lions | 2018 Vikings | 2018 Rams | 2015 Jets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR1 | M. Thomas (WR7) | A. Brown (WR5) | M. Jones (WR11) | A. Thielen (WR8) | R. Woods (WR10) | B. Marshall (WR3) |
| WR2 | B. Cooks (WR10) | J. Smith-Schuster (WR8) | G. Tate (WR12) | S. Diggs (WR13) | B. Cooks (WR13) | E. Decker (WR13) |
| TE | C. Fleener (TE15) | V. McDonald (TE10) | E. Ebron (TE13) | K. Rudolph (TE7) | - | - |
| RB | J. Conner (RB6) | M. Ingram (RB8) | - | - | T. Gurley (RB3) | C. Ivory (RB11) |
| QB | D. Brees (QB2) | B. Roethlisberger (QB2) | M. Stafford (QB5) | K. Cousins (QB9) | J. Goff (QB6) | R. Fitzpatrick (QB11) |
Final ranks based on PPR scoring
Take a gander at that bottom line. That is where the respective quarterbacks ended up using these criteria.
If ADP translates to final ranking (2016 Saints and 2018 Steelers) then the Vikings QB is primed for a truly great season. If you factor out Cook (2017 Lions and 2018 Vikings) then you’re looking at a finish similar to last year for Cousins. The final two columns show two teams that hit all the criteria except
Conclusion
To put this all together, I just don’t get why Kirk Cousins is so undervalued heading into fantasy drafts. Everything I see points to him finishing in the Top 10 quarterbacks and there is a realistic chance he finishes Top 5.
He’s the perfect backup or second QB and you can get him late in your fantasy football draft.
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