When it comes to the top quarterback picks in fantasy football, Kirk Cousins is hardly ever in the conversation. Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen have more fanfare, but who can bring the most bang for your buck? When combining the advanced stats and metrics with his production, supporting cast, consistency and current Underdog Fantasy ADP outside the top 120, Cousins is poised to be fantasy football’s best value quarterback this season.
Production & Efficiency
Kirk Cousins has established himself as Minnesota’s franchise signal-caller. Last season, the Vikings averaged 34.8 team pass plays per game, ranking No. 25 in the league, behind the likes of the Bears, Bengals and Giants. However, Cousins finished with 4,265 passing yards, ranking No. 8 among qualified quarterbacks, while ranking No. 6 with 35 passing touchdowns. Cousins was efficient with the chances he received, averaging 8.2 (No. 3) yards per attempt.
Kirk Cousins 2020 Efficiency Metrics
Averaging 0.53 (No. 10) fantasy points per dropback and boasting a 7.5 (No. 10) Accuracy Rating helped Cousins record a +16.7 (No. 5) Production Premium, all with a 78.1-percent (No. 35) protection rate. Even though he’s not a running quarterback, he still received rushing opportunities last season and will continue to do so. His 0.6 (No. 23) red zone carries per game ranked above rushing QBs like Daniel Jones and Russell Wilson. With opponents looking for Dalvin Cook out of the backfield, Cousins will find himself keeping the ball in the red zone at a similar rate this upcoming season if he isn’t passing it in first.
Supporting Cast
Kirk Cousins heads an offense of players that have been top fantasy options in the past: Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, and Justin Jefferson. Last season, they helped combine for a +15.00 (No. 3) Supporting Cast Efficiency rating.
Jefferson lit the world on fire as a rookie with 88 (N0. 13) receptions and seven (No. 9) total touchdowns, while also breaking the rookie receiving yard record and notching seven 100-yard games. He had 22 (No. 12) Deep Targets, and will be the target for chunk gains and long-distance touchdowns. Add in Viking mainstay Thielen who, per Pro Football Reference, boasts a career 69.2-percent Catch Rate, and Cousins has a top 1-2 WR punch to rely on next season. Coming out of the backfield, he has has Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook, who had a 60.1-percent (No. 5) Route Participation rate and averaged 8.2 (No. 7) yards per reception. While Cook takes plays away from Cousins with his rushing abilities, his receiving skills will help throw defenses off-guard in play-action, an area where he has been successful.
Kirk Cousins: 40 PASS TDs off play action since 2018
Leads the NFL🏆 pic.twitter.com/se7OBP2tzr
— PFF (@PFF) April 16, 2021
Longtime Viking tight end Kyle Rudolph‘s departure leaves electric third-year tight end Irv Smith to take over as the starter. He helped Cousins to a 134.4 (No. 2) QB rating when targeted, and possesses 4.63 (87th-percentile) 40-yard Dash speed. Tyler Conklin will also draw targets while filling in Rudolph’s old blocking role. Between Conklin and Smith, Cousins will have the receiving and blocking services to overcome losing Rudolph.
Will the real Kirk Cousins please stand up ? pic.twitter.com/Sxsc1VvGMb
— RotoUnderworld (@rotounderworld) February 18, 2021
Consistency & Game Script
Kirk Cousins will be riding last season’s consistency heading into 2021. Over the last seven weeks of the 2020 season, he scored at least 20 fantasy points six times, including a big 34-point game against divisional opponent Detroit.
Kirk Cousins 2020 Game Logs: Weeks 11-17
In 2021, he will be facing Detroit twice again, as well as Carolina, Dallas, and Chicago, all of whom he scored 20-plus fantasy points against in this stretch. To add to Cousins’ consistency, his defense didn’t do him any favors last season. While Minnesota took steps to bolster the secondary this offseason, the defense still has weaknesses. With the defense’s weaknesses comes a -2.38 (No. 21) Game Script mark, which leads to passing to come back into games, where Cousins will shine with Justin Jefferson and other weapons by his side. For fantasy purposes, the more passing situations from negative Game Script, the better for Cousins.
Conclusion
Kirk Cousins has continuously put up productive fantasy numbers for the past few seasons, and he is poised to increase that production this season. With his efficiency, supporting cast, consistency, and Game Script, He’ll be the best value among quarterbacks this upcoming fantasy season. Looking to bolster your roster elsewhere in the early rounds? No worries, Cousins will get the job done and then some at QB.
