There is no divisive player in the history of the Minnesota Vikings than a Kirk Cousins. Even before Cousins put ink on paper and changed the way the NFL paid players (and by players I mean defenders), Cousins divided Vikings fans more than an untimely fall near the US Bank light rail. .
Although Cousins has more supporters now than in 2018, thanks to his stellar 2020. This is an objective fact, despite the (admitted) mobile beams of his online detractors, Cousins raised the Vikings’ attack to one of the best in the world. call thanks to its incredibly efficient game.
What I mean by this?
The best way to explain it would be to point out the fact that despite being 29th in the league in passing attempts, the Vikings’ attack is among the 10 units in terms of touchdowns.
This is intentional, as the Vikings are courtesy of first team Dalvin Cook and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak (who is clearly much more conservative this season than he has historically been (meaning that Zimmer is influencing offensive gameplay)) . When done right, this allows the Vikings offensive to combine long, methodical movements that are defensive in nature, as they keep opposing offenses aside for long periods of time.
A good example of this was the Seahawks game, in which the Vikings had more than five drives of ten moves (or more). The secret was to score touchdowns on those units. This seems incredibly obvious, as this is the goal of every offensive attack, but if you end up settling for field goals instead of touchdowns, you can end up dominating possession time and little else.
Sound familiar?
That was the case recently against Tampa Bay, which got even worse when the field goals sailed left or right.
What does this have to do with the title of this piece?
Well, the idea that this elite offense would pass Cousins is essentially laughable at this point. No one knows how difficult it is to find decent quarterback help than Vikings general manager Rick Spielman.
This Vikings, or offensive team, is a good left guard far from really winning the championship. The defense will have a little bit of its core in 2021, and it will also have a real nose tackle and another draft of good players to add to the depth or holes we saw this season.
There is a lot to be positive, so the idea of exchanging Cousins for anyone, let alone an NFC contender like the 49ers, doesn’t make sense. Even with a choice in the first round (or two), the 49ers will not have a choice that will guarantee the Vikings a top 3 defender in the 2021 Draft.
And yet there is no guarantee that these QBs will develop into anything close to what Cousins is or does. Why hurt this offense when you don’t have to?
Where does it come from? NFL.com writer Gregg Rosenthal said yesterday about the idea of Cousins meeting with Kyle Shanahan in the bay area.
In defense of Rosenthal, he mentions that this would create a QB puzzle in Minny (while saving $ 11 million in cap space?). The financial benefits have so far been outweighed by the aforementioned puzzle that he should not be a beginner, which, ironically, I believe is Rosenthal’s conclusion.
Analysis: Preview of engines and agitators in the 2021 QB market
Then again, the 49ers could pull a Buffalo and offer the Vikings something they couldn’t refuse. Jay Cutler was younger than Cousins, but he won two first rounds more than a decade ago. The 49ers can try, but even with the first two rounds, I would say that this change would hurt a Vikings team that knows more than any other franchise how difficult it can be to find help from QB.
Let’s hope San Francisco doesn’t offer the Vikings the choice of every 7th round. So we can really be in trouble.
