Justin Jefferson, Kirk Cousins' Updated Vikings Fantasy Outlook After QB's Trade from Raiders

The Minnesota Vikings are reportedly turning back to a familiar face, and that is excellent news for fantasy football managers counting on Justin Jefferson to carry their roster.

ESPN's Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday the Vikings traded a 2027 third-round draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The trade comes after Kyler Murray missed Monday's loss to the Buffalo Bills with a hamstring injury and Carson Wentz performed terribly in his place while going 8-of-25 for 81 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions.

It's not as if Murray was playing well before the setback either, as he had just five touchdown passes to three interceptions through his first six games.

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Those who selected Jefferson highly in their fantasy drafts know all about the quarterback struggles for the Vikings, and the Cousins trade should offer them plenty of reason for optimism. After all, Cousins performed at a high level statistically for the Raiders this season while completing 64.1 percent of his passes for 2,340 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

He has never been hesitant to air it out downfield, and there is already a chemistry in place from his previous time on the Vikings when Jefferson was also his No. 1 option.

In fact, Cousins threw for more than 4,.000 yards in three consecutive seasons from 2020 through 2022 when he and Jefferson anchored the aerial attack in Minnesota.

Jefferson is averaging a career-worst 56.1 receiving yards per game this season catching passes from Murray and Wentz, so there should be an immediate uptick in his production. While fantasy managers were undoubtedly starting him every week anyway given his status as one of the best receivers in the league, he has largely underperformed.

Now they have every reason to believe he will live up to expectations moving forward.

As for Cousins, he is also an underrated fantasy threat. While he may not be in the same discussion as quarterbacks such as Josh Allen and Joe Burrow, he is second in the league in passing touchdowns and fifth in passing yards.

All of that production was in Las Vegas where his top weapon was a tight end in Brock Bowers. Jefferson and Jordan Addison give him more vertical threats in the passing game that will help him air it out even more and continue to put up impressive fantasy numbers.

At this point, Cousins is a fantasy starter even if he wasn't a high draft pick.

The Vikings are also in a much better position to make a run toward the Super Bowl with their dominant defense now that they have a much higher ceiling at the quarterback position following this trade.