ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has been asking executives, scouts and coaches in the NFL their opinion about the top players at each position. Most recently, Fowler and his insiders tackle the most important position on the field, the quarterback. Fowler ranked the top ten quarterbacks in the NFL based on a compilation of “top-10 votes, composite average, along with dozens of interviews, research and film study from ESPN NFL analyst Matt Bowen.”
In this exercise, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins didn’t make the cut as a top-ten quarterback. However, he did get mentioned as an honorable mention.
“In recent years, Cousins has steadily climbed up the ranking as more of a top-10 threat than middle-of-the-road passer.
His 13,033 passing yards over the past three seasons rank fourth among active NFL quarterbacks, and he’s coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns.
‘You can poke holes in his game, and many do, but he’s talented, he’s accurate, and he wins,’ an AFC exec said.
‘If you look at his production at the end of the day, he’s really good.’
Cousins has developed tremendous chemistry with receiver Justin Jefferson. The elite duo works because Cousins doesn’t overthink it. He feeds him. Nearly 30% of the Vikings’ passing targets the past two season (351 of 1,219) have gone to Jefferson.”
This is in line with the rankings our own Tyler Forness released earlier in July, as he ranked Cousins 11th in the third-tier of “really good, but not great.” Cousins will need to continue to leverage that chemistry he has with Jefferson if he hopes to crack the top ten next season.
