Where Does Kirk Cousins Rank in Various Quarterback Traits?
It's always fun to see where Kirk Cousins slots in on quarterback rankings from various sources, which pop up every offseason.
A recent ESPN piece is even more interesting. They had a panel of nine analysts rank NFL QBs within ten different categories, from physical things like arm strength and accuracy to mental traits like field vision and decision-making.
Here's where Cousins ranked in each category:
- Arm strength: Unranked (received at least one vote)
- Accuracy: 7th
- Touch: T-8th
- Mechanics: T-7th
- Field vision: Unranked (received at least one vote)
- Decision-making: 8th
- Compete level and toughness: Unranked (received at least one vote)
- Pocket presence: Unranked (received at least one vote)
- Rushing ability: Unranked
- Second-reaction ability: Unranked
Cousins cracked the top ten in four of ten categories, but isn't viewed as being in the top six in any of them.
Dan Orlovsky listed Cousins as the list's biggest snub in the field vision section.
Kirk Cousins should be in the top 10. The Minnesota offense asks a lot of him when it comes to seeing the field and reading it out, often with multiple layers of progressions. He does it at a very high level.
Matt Bowen added that he thinks Cousins was snubbed there.
Elsewhere, I think Cousins deserved to make the top ten in compete level and toughness. Anyone who watched the Quarterback docuseries got a sense of all the hits he withstood and played through last season. Cousins takes a beating every week and is still arguably the most durable QB of his era.
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