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Tom Sykes -> RE: General Vikes Talk (5/30/2021 5:16:14 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Dana Turner
FWIW, Here's my take on the Cousins discussion.
I believe there is enough evidence to slot him in the right category. He has a solid arm, is an accurate passer in all three of the phases that get graded. He is solid in play action and has proven he can throw accurately on the move. He is a better than average QB at reading coverage's and is intelligent enough to have a full understanding of the playbook and game plans.
What he is not: He does not have the movement skills that are in vogue in today's NFL, his ability to scramble is poor, it appears he does not "sense" the rush around him very well. I believe it is a positive that he's willing to stand in the pocket in the face of the rush to deliver a throw, but it is also not too smart and his penchant to hold the ball ends up costing more than it's worth. I believe that the good/great QB's all must do a tremendous amount of self scouting to understand what the league (read, defensive coordinators) believes are his tells/tendencies, I'm not sure he's good at that. It appears he makes the same mistakes when bated, I'd like to see more growth in this department at this stage of his career. I also believe in a room full of alpha males, you can't be the biggest nerd in the room and expect the guys to truly follow you.
I believe he is a good enough QB to lead a good team to a title. As long as you understand that he won't carry the team and drag them across the finish line. His good traits out-weigh his bad traits, but his bad traits are not going away, he is who he is. We have never seen him with a solid functional offensive line, I believe the Vikings now have the ability to put a solid line out on the field and we will see a better cousins than we have seen so far. Will it be noticeably better, well, not if you are looking for flashy elevated play. It will probably just look way more efficient and that will make Zimmer a happy man.
Cousins is a top ten QB in this league, with a few flaws. Lucky for us, some of those flaws get marginalized with a solid O-line. Our skill players on offense are as good as the other top offenses in the league, with a good offensive line I believe we can see better play from Cousins, really see the best he has and we can go from there.
As usual, a thoughtful post.
As with every other QB, until they improve on or disprove what seem to be their major flaw(s) ... its easy for those flaws - like performance under pressure - to overshadow their strengths.
I think KC deserves the reputation he has for not being good under pressure, even though I have seen a handful of games where he has done everything he could possibly do (under pressure), we just didn't get the win. Those outcomes were not his fault.
For that reason, I think it is wrong to assume that he is incapable of winning a big game or even stringing together a SB run. The arm talent is right there with some of the other QBs that have won it all.
However, the confidence issue is troublesome, he does fall apart at times with multiple TOs. Also, to my eye, as good as he is at taking advantage of what the defense gives him ... he seems not good at overcoming adversity, a bad bounce, a penalty ... a shift in momentum.
And since IMO SB runs are as much about momentum and confidence as skill, my expectations for him are very guarded.
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