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Scot McCloughan on Kirk Cousins: "I Don't See Special" - Headed for UFA


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10 hours ago, HT02 said:

It's entirely possible that Cousins could have won a couple of games that Taylor let get away, he is definitely a better QB.  It is also possible he could have also lost at least one Taylor won because he did turn over the football more often.

 

A bit off on the argument here.  Can't just look at TO's.  Yes, Cousins threw 9 more interceptions this year, potentially costing his team as many as 63 points if a TD was scored off each one (which it shouldn't be).  He also threw for 13 more TD, gaining his team 78-104 more points.  The math is favorable to more winning.

 

10 hours ago, HT02 said:

Cousins career record as a starter is 26 -30-1, his best season was 9-7.  You could certainly make the case that the Redskins have not been great during that period and he'd be much better with a better team around him but that would sound very similar to the people who argue the same about Tyrod.

 

Hapless does the DC Tom meme equivalent: "W-L record is not a QB stat.  W-L record is not a QB stat".  If you plonked Drew Brees into Washington, do you really want to argue their record improves dramatically?  I wouldn't.  With Brees at QB, the Chargers had a record of 30-28.  I don't think you can make an issue of 3-4 games.  Rivers is an unquestionably good QB - I consider him right up there with the top 5 - and the Chargers are coming off a 7 year stretch with a record of 51-61.  QBs need teams.

 

The point to look at as a QB isn't the team around him - yes, arguably the Bills would have won more games if they had a better team around Taylor and better playcalling - it's that he isn't taking that step that you want a QB to take after 1 to 3 years, of stepping up and finding that open man.  Having watched a couple games of Keenum now, I don't think he's as good as his record and stats show this year.  I think Shurmer knows something, and Thielen, Diggs, and Rudolph catch everything thrown near them.  You can see Keenum isn't like Brees or Rodgers, he doesn't put the ball exactly where he wants it every throw, he puts it somewhere in their vicinity and prays.  I wasn't kidding when I said in another post that Keenum should look at Thielen and Diggs and quote Ruth 1:16.

 

I haven't done a dissection of Cousins, but if the Bills have, and they see him doing the things you expect a top QB to do consistently on making quick reads and ball placement, then get him, because he's got the numbers that suggest he's got the goods.  You just don't get a chance to land top-quality QB on the open market that often. Bradford, Foles, and Keenum are as good as it normally gets.  Back up the Brinks truck, and draft QB you like who fall to you every year 'til you land a Garappolo.

 

10 hours ago, HT02 said:

 

I disagree with you about top 5 versus top 10.  A top 10 QB assures that you will have a  team that is a serious play-off contender each year, a top 5 QB almost certainly assures that you have a Super Bowl contender each year.  As far as once Brady, Ben and Brees retire, Cousins probably is top 10, that assumes Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield or others aren't better.  I believe in 3 years he still won't be a top 10 guy.

 

HT02, you can't have 5 teams contending for the SB (or even the conference championship) every year.  But that logic aside, please go look at the record of teams with arguably top 5 QB not named Brady - the Packers, the Seahawks, the Chargers, the Steelers, the Saints, arguably the Falcons.  This is the first year the Saints have been in the playoffs since 2013.  They haven't been to the Conference championship since they won the Superbowl in 2009.  The Pack haven't contended for the SB since 2010.  And arguably, Rodgers and Brees are the leading candidates for "QB who can elevate a team and carry it on their arm".

Instead we have guys named Flacco, Kaepernick, Grossman, and Foles in the Superbowl because they have (had) a team around them.

 

My point isn't to minimize the importance of a QB, but to try another way of approaching Shaw's argument:

1) an all-time great QB is not sufficient to get you into the Superbowl (or even the conf. championship) without enough D and pieces around him.

2) if you have enough D and pieces, a consistently good QB will get you there

3) even a consistently good QB is difficult to find, and rookies who develop immediately into one are even rarer.

 

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1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

corrected.  I think the point stands, Cousins is a better QB and could easily have taken us to 12-5

a pet peeve.  If a person makes a typo and their point is clear as to the meaning

 

getting "corrected" is trollish.  

Tyrod Taylor is NOT the answer.     

 

As long as people boast about him, then we will see the negative responses.  

 

 

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11 hours ago, HT02 said:

 

 

I disagree with you about top 5 versus top 10.  A top 10 QB assures that you will have a  team that is a serious play-off contender each year, a top 5 QB almost certainly assures that you have a Super Bowl contender each year.  As far as once Brady, Ben and Brees retire, Cousins probably is top 10, that assumes Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield or others aren't better.  I believe in 3 years he still won't be a top 10 guy.

I agree with the difference between top 5 and top 10. My point is that it's foolish to wait to make a bet on QB until you see one that you think is top 5.  

 

Rosen Darnold and Mayfield each has less than a10% probability of being top 5.  Betting on them is a long shot.  

 

Better strategy to go after a guy who is high probably top 10 and hope he exceeds expectations.  He gives you a chance to compete every year. 

 

Getting a top 5 guy is luck. Probably one out of 10 guys picked at 1 through 10 becomes top 5, 1 out of 50 of the guys picked after that.  I'd take Cousins, know I can compete every year, and hope either he over achieves or I find my top 5 guy in the draft in succeeding years.  

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26 minutes ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

a pet peeve.  If a person makes a typo and their point is clear as to the meaning

 

getting "corrected" is trollish.  

Tyrod Taylor is NOT the answer.     

 

As long as people boast about him, then we will see the negative responses. 

 

Fair cop, I wasn't checking my work.  Though it is nice to have a comment about the substance of the post along with the correction. Heh. 

 

I think we'd see negative comments if people boast about Taylor or not, because TBH I don't see too much boasting.  I think people are always going to be "overthetop" negative about whoever the starter is, unless we're winning every year.

 

I think a less-addressed point is that the best way to acquire a great QB is to already have at least a competent one.  KC may get better value from Mahomes through being able to let him sit because they have Smith.  I'm not saying that Manuel would have become capable, but surely it didn't help him to play right off his first year.  Everyone was in a big hurry to see the back of Ryan Fitzpatrick heading out of town, but with hindsight, it would have been better (and overall cheaper) to keep him as a "baseline standard" of QBing who might do better under an OC that didn't mistake him for Aaron Brees.  We could do worse, and we did.  Likewise, people who are over-the-top negative about Taylor and anxious to see him driving out of town are a bit too optimistic when they think we can't do worse.   We have done worse, and we could again.

 

Taylor is not the answer if the question is "who will be the Bills franchise starter?" but he might be the answer if the question is "who can serve as a baseline vet until the new guy is ready?".  We could do better - I think Smith would be better, possibly McCown if the Jets let go of him - but we could also do worse from the standpoint of either skill or durability.  I could be totally out to lunch but I don't think McBeane and Daboll have taken that option off the table and I think that's a Good Thing.

 

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16 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I agree with the difference between top 5 and top 10. My point is that it's foolish to wait to make a bet on QB until you see one that you think is top 5.  

 

Rosen Darnold and Mayfield each has less than a 10% probability of being top 5.  Betting on them is a long shot.  

 

Better strategy to go after a guy who is high probably top 10 and hope he exceeds expectations.  He gives you a chance to compete every year. 

 

Getting a top 5 guy is luck. Probably one out of 10 guys picked at 1 through 10 becomes top 5, 1 out of 50 of the guys picked after that.  I'd take Cousins, know I can compete every year, and hope either he over achieves or I find my top 5 guy in the draft in succeeding years.  

 

How do you figure this without an actual examination/projection of each of the prospects for their respective pro potential?

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15 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I agree with the difference between top 5 and top 10. My point is that it's foolish to wait to make a bet on QB until you see one that you think is top 5.  

 

Rosen Darnold and Mayfield each has less than a10% probability of being top 5.  Betting on them is a long shot.  

 

Better strategy to go after a guy who is high probably top 10 and hope he exceeds expectations.  He gives you a chance to compete every year. 

 

Getting a top 5 guy is luck. Probably one out of 10 guys picked at 1 through 10 becomes top 5, 1 out of 50 of the guys picked after that.  I'd take Cousins, know I can compete every year, and hope either he over achieves or I find my top 5 guy in the draft in succeeding years.  

 

Well, Luck is or arguably could be a top 5 guy, assuming he comes back from injury. :D

 

You're right.  If you're looking for a guy who can play capably in the NFL - the odds are much better at the top of the 1st round.

But if you're looking for a guy who will truly be a top-5 QB for years, even without considering the anomaly of Brady, they're found throughout the 1st round and scattered in the lower rounds.  There's an element of skilled evaluation, an element of good development with a good OC and system, and an element of....luck

 

My top 5 in the league (beyond Brady, considered as QBs not 'winners') along with their draft positions:

Rodgers  24th in the 1st

Brees       32nd overall (1st in the 2nd round)

Roeth      11th in the 1st

Rivers      4th in the 1st

Ryan        3rd in the 1st

next would be Russ Wilson, pick #75 (3rd round). 

I would put Stafford (#1 overall) and Cousins (#102) right after that.  I guess that's calling him #9 or 10.

 

For the young guns of the "look very promising!" class who may rise or fall with the years, I include Garappolo (#62), Wentz (#1), Goff (#2), Derek Carr (#36, 2nd round), Dak Prescott (#135),  Winston (#1), Mariota (#2). 

 

I am (controversially) not a fan of Luck (#1) and Newton (#1) as top 10 QB at this point.  They may regroup, or they may fall further, we'll see.


 

 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

I think either Broncos or Cards make sense, Broncos probably more so. Then again, I think eventually money talks and it could come down to whoever throws the most at him. If your FO believes he’s the guy and you can afford the hit, you have to be willing to make Cousins an offer...I really wonder if we are in the mix there.

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11 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

I think either Broncos or Cards make sense, Broncos probably more so. Then again, I think eventually money talks and it could come down to whoever throws the most at him. If your FO believes he’s the guy and you can afford the hit, you have to be willing to make Cousins an offer...I really wonder if we are in the mix there.

Doubt it...with the broncos roster it appears they are in a win now mode...we are still a year or two away b fore we have a shot to being true contenders...the Bills getting cousins wouldn’t make much sense because we don’t have the rest of our team together yet imo.

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16 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

Based on what the new GM and coach are saying, I expect Eli to remain with the NYG as the starting QB.

 

You can't totally believe eveything any of these guys are saying at the moment.

 

Can't 100% believe this either, but Elway says he wants to trade for somebody.  http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000911438/article/john-elway-broncos-have-picks-to-trade-for-draft-qb

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5 hours ago, reddogblitz said:

 

You can't totally believe eveything any of these guys are saying at the moment.

 

Can't 100% believe this either, but Elway says he wants to trade for somebody.  http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000911438/article/john-elway-broncos-have-picks-to-trade-for-draft-qb

 

Trade for or draft is what he said. 

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8 reasons Kirk Cousins will be the Bills' starting QB in 2018
 

By Ryan Talbot | Contributing writer

Kirk Cousins is expected to hit free agency after spending the last six seasons with Washington. Quarterbacks of Cousins' caliber aren't usually available and there will be plenty of teams trying to sign the veteran. Although he'll have no shortage of suitors, don't count out the Buffalo Bills. Here are 8 reasons why Cousins will be the Bills' starting quarterback in 2018.

 

Bills among most attractive options
Brandon Beane understands importance of QB
Allows Buffalo to keep all of their draft picks
Buffalo can build around him
Win-now roster
Cousins would give Buffalo a balanced offense
Best football in front of him
Cousins would help attract future free agents

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Per PFW

 

"Is money a part of it? Sure. Is it the only thing? No," Cousins said Tuesday on PFT Live. "It is about winning, and that's what I want more than anything, so I'm going to be willing to make sacrifices or do what has to be done to make sure I'm in the best possible position to win, and that's what the focus is going to be."

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