Quote:
Originally Posted by Paintrain
My preseason take on Cousins:
He is a classic Gruden QB. Technically sound but overwhelmingly mediocre. He will look great when things are perfect. When the play call matches the defense, when the primary read is open, when he gets great protection and most importantly, when he is playing with the lead. When any of those break down however, so does he...quickly.
Ask him to perform at a high level over a period of time and you will be disappointed. He is too careless with the ball, too pre-determined with where the ball will go and doesn't rally from adversity well.
If he starts all 16 games, he will probably put up good numbers on paper.. 3200 or so yards, 5 or 6 300 yard games, probably 18-24 TD with 14-18 INT.. The reality however will probably result in a 3-5 win season and fans hoping 'that he can put it all together with a full offseason of being the starter'.
Ultimately Cousins is fools gold.
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So looking back at where I was at the beginning of the season and where I am now, Cousins has moved the needle for me. I am no longer of the mindset that he is a backup/fringe starter. I think he's a bonafide starting QB in the category 12-18 range in comparison with his peers. He's not a star but he's also not a weekly liability. Obviously he should be back on a 2-3 year extension and QB isn't at the top of our draft board which is good.
He's protected the ball better than I thought he could, which was a major concern going into the season. He has benefitted from some luck on a few head scratchers (like the late play against the Bears into triple coverage that Jones caught off the deflection) but for the most part he's not been overly careless. He does check the ball down too quickly but hopefully that changes with experience and time in the offense.
This offseason should be good for him to continue to develop & have McCloughan surround him with a better running game and a bigger WR to replace Garcon.
Arrow pointing up.