Kirk Cousins May Have What It Takes to Replace RG3 as Redskins Franchise QB
All we know right now is that Washington Redskins franchise quarterback Robert Griffin III won't be available for several weeks. It could be longer, but the team hasn't been able to release a definitive timeline.
But what matters is that means highly touted backup Kirk Cousins will inevitably have an extended period in which to audition for a starting role, either with the Redskins or elsewhere.
Redskins head coach Jay Gruden has always claimed that Griffin is secure as the team's starting quarterback. But according to Mike Wise of The Washington Post, "a person with knowledge of Gruden’s thinking" claims the new coach has for some time believed that Cousins is better off running his style of offense:
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"The dirty little secret in Ashburn is that Coach Jay Gruden actually thought Kirk Cousins was better suited to his offense, that Robert Griffin III wasn’t getting it and there was no way to delicately make a change at any point this season without causing major problems throughout the organization. So the new coach was resigned to doing everything he could to develop Griffin into a pocket passer, though he really feared Griffin might not be the guy to lead the team over the long term.
"
Even if it's true, Gruden never could and never will admit that. He knew, based on both how heavily this franchise is invested in Griffin and the controversy that took place between the quarterback and the coaching staff last season, that he'd have to ride with RG3 so long as RG3 remained healthy.
It wasn't worth risking alienating the face of the franchise or pissing off the front office, especially as a brand-new head coach. That's why we continued to insist throughout the summer that there'd be no quarterback controversy in D.C. And it's also why Gruden on Tuesday denied, per ESPN's John Keim via Pro Football Talk, that he'd ever favored Cousins.
But Griffin's injury gives Gruden a chance to view Cousins in games that count without ruffling feathers. And the 2014 fourth-round pick got off to a hell of a start in relief of RG3 on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Without top receiver DeSean Jackson for most of the day, Cousins completed 22 of 33 passes for 250 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, earning the highest QBR of the week and a passer rating of 109.4. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded him as the fifth-best quarterback of the weekend.
Now, we do have to consider the opponent. The Jaguars struggled on both sides of the ball, pressuring Cousins on only six of his 35 dropbacks, which, according to PFF, was the second-lowest rate in the league last weekend. Yet he was still sacked on two of those six dropbacks under duress.
To his credit, Cousins consistently got the ball out quickly, but he wasn't exactly facing the '85 Bears.
I know, the very first pass he threw on Sunday went for a 20-yard touchdown. Sounds awesome. But considering the complete lack of coverage, I'm pretty sure I would have had no trouble hitting Darrel Young here:
Same deal later on a "23-yard strike" to Niles Paul, setting up 1st-and-goal on the 1-yard line:
Cousins did have three other completions of 20 yards or more. The coverage wasn't great on a 31-yard completion to Andre Roberts in the second quarter, but he did do a nice job in the pocket. He looked like a poised veteran on his first read, pump-faking to his right in order to freeze Jags middle linebacker Paul Posluszny.
He faked knowing damn well that his first reads weren't options, but that helped open up the middle of the field for Roberts, who was running a post route out of the slot:
Hell of a job moving through progressions and identifying a soft spot in zone coverage:
Later, under mild pressure and while working a two-minute drill, he delivered a 26-yard missile to a decently covered Paul:
And this was the extremely well-placed 21-yard lob he tossed to rookie receiver Ryan Grant late in the third quarter, converting on third down to set up another touchdown:
Those last three throws are the types of passes franchise quarterbacks make.
Now, Cousins has a habit of becoming astonishingly inaccurate at times, and that's something that can't stick. Not in this league in this era. Once he got the 'Skins inside the Jacksonville 30-yard line during that two-minute drill to end the first half, he threw two consecutive wild pitches at Pierre Garcon and Grant.
The good news is neither pass was in jeopardy of being intercepted, but the throw to Grant simply had to be completed.
On the next snap, a third-down sack took the 'Skins out of field-goal range. But that was a rare occasion in which the Jags executed a nice blitz, causing Cousins to be hit about 2.3 seconds after the snap. That's not on the quarterback.
Then again, Cousins has never taken sacks like Griffin. He's been taken down only 10 times on 246 career dropbacks. That's a sack rate of only 4.1, which is a mark only two qualifying quarterbacks bettered in 2013. And on average, only two of 23 qualifying quarterbacks were sacked faster, time-wise, than Cousins in Week 2, according to PFF.
Aside from those plays, a couple of throw-aways and a couple of instances of communication breakdowns—which are to be expected from a young quarterback in a new system—it was close to a perfect day for the 26-year-old.
He also might have had another long-range touchdown if not for a brutal drop from Paul late in the third quarter:
It's enough to cause you to wonder if Cousins really is a better option than Griffin. Maybe, just maybe, he can do for Gruden what Andy Dalton did for him in Cincinnati. He's smart and cool in the pocket, and he's in great hands with a quarterback guru such as Gruden.
Cousins' career regular-season performances have generally been terrible. He posted a dismal 58.4 passer rating in relief of Griffin last December, which—if he qualified—would have ranked dead last in the NFL by a huge margin. He also tossed seven interceptions on only 155 pass attempts.
From Bleacher Report's Tyler Conway: "According to Football Outsiders' DVOA metric, Cousins was the worst quarterback in football to attempt 100 or more passes. Pro Football Focus measured Cousins as being better than only one signal-caller who had at least 100 dropbacks: Blaine Gabbert."
| Griffin | 62.7 | 36-17 | 7.5 | 91.5 |
| Cousins | 56.2 | 8-10 | 6.5 | 68.6 |
But Cousins looked a lot different against the Jaguars, and although he was facing inferior defenses, he certainly outplayed Griffin by a wide margin during the preseason.
| Comp. % | 65.0 | 64.8 |
| YPA | 7.0 | 6.9 |
| TD | 0 | 4 |
| INT | 2 | 1 |
| Rating | 46.0 | 101.6 |
And then there was the report from ESPN.com's Mike Reiss that Cousins looked better than Griffin in joint training camp practice with the Patriots. That carries a little more weight right about now, doesn't it?
It's possible Cousins has turned a corner. It's possible Mike Shanahan's offense wasn't for him, just as it appears Gruden's offense isn't for Griffin.
Gruden on Monday refused to rule out the possibility that Cousins could Wally Pipp Griffin by keeping the job even once the 2012 No. 2 overall pick is healthy, according to Keim. Momentum builds fast in this league.
And Cousins has everything he needs to succeed. The injury Jackson suffered Sunday isn't considered to be serious, so he'll have a full complement of receivers soon if not immediately. The receiving corps is jacked, Alfred Morris is one of the game's most productive and reliable backs, and Trent Williams is emerging as a superstar blind-side protector.
Hell, even the defense is offering some support. That talented front seven had 10 sacks Sunday, and the unit as a whole—which gets starter Brandon Meriweather back from suspension in Week 3—ranks first in the NFL in terms of yards allowed and fourth when it comes to points surrendered.
I know, I know. They've played the Texans and the Jaguars, who last year ranked 31st and 32nd, respectively, in terms of points per game. And it's not as though we can draw any grand conclusions about Cousins based on his more-than-respectable outing against a D that ranked in the bottom 10 in all of the key categories in 2013.
But you can't control who you play. For Cousins and the team he now leads, the real test begins with a road game against the defending division champion Eagles on Sunday. And with Seattle and Arizona also on the upcoming schedule, we'll likely have a feel for Cousins' chances of permanently replacing Griffin as this city's football prince well before RG3's ankle has healed.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.
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