There are a lot of myths surrounding Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. One that continues to perpetuate is that Cousins is the king of the checkdown.
In this new series for The Vikings Wire, we will be focusing on proving or disproving that myth.
What will we be quantifying as a checkdown? It won’t just be a short route or a screen. It will be a receiver that leaks out short that is an emergency option outside of the standard progressions.
All quarterbacks take these and Cousins is no different. Why are we looking at going through with this series? Cousins has a tendency to want everything to be perfect which can result in throwing into the flat instead of trusting his weapons down the field or waiting a split-second longer for someone to come open downfield. What this series will do is quantify each checkdown based on situation, pressure and confidence.
The scale that we will be using is from 1-10 with one being the most cowardly and 10 being the perfect decision. Some of this will be a little bit subjective but most of these will be closer to white or black than being a shade of gray.
Throughout the season, we will be breaking each one down and talking about why Cousins made the decision and what he could have or should have done differently.
Week 1: 4/33 (12.12%) Score: 26/40 (6.5)
Week 2: 12/46 (26.09%) Score: 73/120
Checkdowns: 16/79 (20.25%)
Overall Grade: 99/160
9:34 remaining in the 1st quarter: 2nd & 10 from the 38
The route concept here is rather simple. With three at the top and one at the bottom, they run two concepts here. A flat-out concept to the top with dueling deep crossers. With two deep safeties, the read immediately goes to the out/flat concept. Jefferson gets a modicum of separation but Cousins decides that the flat is the safe play, even though Smith Jr. has a defender draped all over him. Not a great decision from Cousins even though there wasn’t a great one. Would have liked to see him drive the ball to Jefferson who earned separation.
Grade: 6/10
10:06 remaining in the 2nd quarter: 1st & goal from the 8
This is really a two-man route concept. Jefferson runs a crosser with Thielen running a post. They cross twice hoping to create a rub that will create some separation. The Lions played it very well so Cousins has two options to check it down. Cook is right in front of him and Ham is in the left flat. He hits Ham in stride and they get a small gain. The Vikings ended up scoring just three plays later.
Grade: 8/10
Overall
There were some questionable reads and decisions from Cousins in this game but he didn’t check it down often at all. Just two genuine checkdowns was a nice sight to see but the decision-making needs to improve to make this offense really start to flow and be consistent.
Checkdowns: 2/41 (4.88%)
Grade: 14/20
Checkdowns (Season): 18/120 (15.00%)
Overall Grade: 113/180
