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
Week 3: 2/41 (4.88%) Score: 14/20
Checkdowns (Season): 18/120 (15.00%)
Overall Grade: 113/180
10:09 left in the 3rd quarter: 3rd & goal from the 6
This is a tough one to truly call a check down but I thought it was worth discussing. This is a high/low concept with Jefferson being the easy read here. He gets pushed off his axis by Lattimore and has excellent separation from the safety. Lattimore is flat-footed and can’t get to a back pylon throw. Jefferson was the correct read here and Cousins admitted as much.
Oh my god just saw the full quote lol. I 100% agree with him here and tbh cool to see him acknowledge/explain it a little.
Meanwhile Cousins Stans will call you names if you agree with him pic.twitter.com/kYFswOHex4
— Luke Braun (@LukeBraunNFL) October 5, 2022
Really disappointing decision from Cousins who made the short read on this concept three times. Not all of them are equal decisions, but this is what I’ve been harping on with him. Make the downfield throws when the read is good. He just isn’t doing that.
Grade: 3/10
2:48 remaining in the 3rd quarter: 3rd & 8 at the 47
On the near side, it’s a levels concept with two dig routes and the far side is an Ohio concept with an out route from the inside receiver and a go route from the outside receiver. Jefferson runs a stop route in the middle of the field as a check down. The Ohio concept really isn’t there and K.J. Osborn to the bottom has tight coverage. You could argue going there if he stops, but Cousins looks around and makes the right call to Jefferson. The one complaint for me is that Jefferson doesn’t get past the sticks and goes two yards short on 3rd and eight.
Grade: 7/10
5:07 left in the 4th quarter: 2nd & 9 from the 45
This is a flood concept with a receiver on every level. Jeffersonfrunning the corner, Osborn the crosser and Thielen the flat. Both Jefferson and Osborn are covered and the only open option was Thielen. It’s a pretty simple read and Cousins does a good job with it. Honestly disappointing that this didn’t work better.
Grade: 8/10
Overall
Cousins didn’t have the best decision-making in this game but he didn’t use that to check down. He just took the shallow options in the route concepts to play it safe. This is what we were hoping to see from Cousins this season. Hopefully, this improves as his comfort level in the offense does.
Checkdowns: 3/38 (7.90%)
Grade: 18/30
Checkdowns (Season): 21/158 (13.29%)
Overall Grade: 131/210
