Kyle Shanahan Recalls Drafting Kirk Cousins

Shanahan and Cousins will face each other Monday night in Minnesota -- Cousins now is the Vikings quarterback, Shanahan the 49ers head coach.

You probably know that Kyle Shanahan is responsible for Washington drafting Kirk Cousins in 2012. But you probably know the full story of how that happened.

Shanahan and Cousins will face each other Monday night in Minnesota -- Cousins now is the Vikings quarterback, Shanahan the 49ers head coach. But in 2012, Shanahan was Washington's offensive coordinator and his father was the head coach. And here's how they got Cousins, according to Kyle:

"We traded up, we got another quarterback with the second pick in the draft. I remember we had the sixth pick and I knew if we were going at six, my dad wanted to take Ryan Tannehill. I was hoping to get Kirk in the second round and go a different direction and we traded up to two and went with Robert Griffin III and I remember him telling me that, my dad really liked Russell Wilson and he said, ‘We're going to take Russell Wilson in the fourth and get two quarterbacks in there that year.’ And then we got to the fourth and Russell was gone, and I remember him coming to my room. 

"He was like, ‘Hey, do you still want your guy Kirk?’ I was like, ‘I don't know about that dad, we've gone another direction.’ He was like, ‘No, the plan was we’re going to take two, we're still taking two.’ Then we ended up taking Kirk, which I was pumped about because that's who I wanted originally. Then to be able to get both of them. I know it was a weird situation for Kirk to go into a place where you know you're not going to have that opportunity, but he just kind of sat there and soaked everything in and learned a lot. It was a fun two years just working with him every day. But, didn’t get to coach him much in games, I think we had three games with him. But he was awesome in the office.” 

Some quick takeaways:

1. Kyle Shanahan is petty. The first time he referred to Robert Griffin III, he called him "another quarterback."

2. Mike Shanahan's plan was to not trade up, stay at six and take Ryan Tannehill and Russell Wilson in the same draft. That would have been a terrific draft.

3. Kyle Shanahan clearly did  not want to take a quarterback in Round 1. I'm guessing he would have taken a defensive lineman instead. Perhaps Fletcher Cox, whom the Eagles drafted with the 12th pick that year.