Kirk Cousins Has NFL Future, But He's Proven It's Not As a Starter

You know, it wasn't that long ago that Kirk Cousins was being anointed as the quarterback of the future in Washington. Before the season even started, the man many believe to be the best quarterback in the team's history, Joe Theismann, said that Kirk Cousins should start over Robert Griffin.

Then, when Cousins led Washington to a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and topped 400 passing yards against the Philadelphia Eagles, the calls grew even louder.

The Kirk Cousins bandwagon was barreling along at breakneck speed.

Since that win over Jacksonville, there were four straight losses. While Washington finally got back into the win column Sunday, it was only after the Cousins bandwagon blew a tire, flipped 26 times and landed upside-down in a ditch.

There were no injuries, other than Cousins' pride. That's because over the last month one thing has been made abundantly clear.

Kirk Cousins is not an NFL starter.

The ride came to a screeching halt in Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans. After two more turnovers (including his NFC-leading ninth interception), Cousins was yanked in favor of Colt McCoy.

After McCoy led Washington on a late drive that culminated in a game-winning field goal, head coach Jay Gruden indicated to reporters (via Dan Hanzus of NFL.com) that it will be McCoy, and not Cousins, under center if Robert Griffin isn't ready to face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8:

"

I'd like to make the decision as soon as I can because I'm a big rep guy, and I want to make sure we get the starter ready to go. Moving forward for the Cowboys, we're going to start with Colt. Kirk's gonna get the reps that he gets and he'll be ready to go in if need be. But Colt will be the starter, I'm planning on Monday night.

"

Indictments don't get a lot more scathing than losing a gig to Colt McCoy, who hasn't started a game since 2011.

It's a far cry from August, when Theismann told Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post that Cousins should start for the team over Griffin:

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Let’s stop beating around the bush. Kirk Cousins has played much better at the quarterback position than Robert Griffin III has. Now, Robert is learning to work out of a pocket. He doesn’t look as smooth or as comfortable throwing the football. I mean, your eyes will tell you everything you need to know.

It’s going to be a decision that Jay Gruden is going to have to make. Right now, Robert Griffin III is his quarterback. Now, if there was a quarterback competition, it wouldn’t be a competition. Kirk Cousins would be the man I believe he would have to go to, because of the efficiency with which he has run [the offense].

"

After Cousins' hot start against the Jaguars and Eagles, former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach (and current NFL analyst) Bill Cowher went even farther, according to Scott Allen of The Washington Post:

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This isn’t Kirk Cousins’s job to win. Right now this is Kirk Cousins’s job to lose. He isn’t a backup like he talked about. Right now, he is the starter. He’s putting together a profile right now, a resume of these next seven weeks that will make the decision easy for the Redskins: either they sign him to a contract or they’re still looking for the quarterback of the future. We’re seeing it unfold before our eyes — the future of Kirk Cousins and the Redskins.

"

Of course, Cousins then proceeded to have a truly horrific game in a Thursday night loss to the New York Giants, and it's been all downhill from there.

GS	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yards	TD	INT	Rating	W-L
5	126	204	61.8	1,710	10	9	86.4	1-4

The thing is, none of this should come as a huge, jaw-dropping shock for anyone. Many people developed a "tunnel vision" of sorts where Cousins was concerned. They lauded his big game against the Eagles and relief wins both this year and in 2012, while forgetting that Cousins is 2-7 in games he's started. They tout his potential as a starting quarterback in the NFL, while conveniently glossing over the fact that Cousins was awful in three starts at the end of last year.

GS	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yards	TD	INT	Rating	W-L
3	81	155	52.3	854	4	7	58.4	0-3

The problem with Cousins isn't hard to identify. As The Washington Post's Jason Reid pointed out, "The Redskins have holes throughout their roster. They can’t rely on a quarterback who has multiple-turnover meltdowns throughout the season."

And Cousins melts down more than a grilled cheese sandwich.

Mmmmm. Melty. (which isn't a word, no matter badly the people at Wendy's try to convince us otherwise.)

In 14 career games, Cousins has an eye-popping 23 turnovers. Nineteen have come courtesy of interceptions, often at the worst possible time. Cousins himself told ESPN's John Keim that he doesn't have an answer for the turnovers:

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If I had the perfect answer I probably wouldn’t have thrown them. I don’t know if some of it is I’m so conscious of not throwing an interception that it causes you to throw one. I really don’t know. I just need to get better and cut down those turnovers. I do believe I can do some good things and we can move the ball when I’m in there.

"

At this point, it doesn't matter if the turnovers are in his head, Cousins thinks his arm is better than it actually is or he has problems reading defenses. What matters is that Cousins continues to give the ball away at an alarming rate, and if anything the problem's only gotten worse.

Mind you, this isn't to say that Cousins is an absolute hack whose NFL days are finished. Cousins has topped 300 passing yards in four of his nine starts. He's got an above-average arm and throws a very nice deep ball. His completion percentage of just under 62 percent this year isn't great, but it isn't awful either.

In an NFL where Colt McCoy has kicked around for five years and Cousins went up against Charlie Whitehurst (subbing for an injured Jake Locker) in Week 7, there's plenty of room for Cousins as a backup, especially given the ability he's shown to enter a game cold and get the win.

Blaine Gabbert has a job as a backup quarterback, and Gabbert makes Cousins look like "Peyton Joe Favrinoway."

However, turnovers are the absolute kiss of death in the National Football League. So the odds of a quarterback winning as many games as he loses while committing 1.5-plus turnovers a game are slim to none, with the emphasis on the none.

Kirk Cousins can do many things well on a football field, but until he can demonstrate some skill at taking care of the pigskin, his NFL future lies with taking care of a clipboard.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.