Fantasy Football

Kirk Cousins

QB - MIN

Height: 6-3

Weight: 202 lbs

Age: 35

College: Michigan State

News Game Log Draft Weekly

2023 Season Outlooks

With a per-game average of 19.0 to 22.8 Fantasy points in each of his five seasons in Minnesota, Cousins is as close to a safe-floor quarterback you can find. However, he may be able to reach his ceiling in 2023. It's his second year with head coach and playcaller Kevin O'Connell, who dialed up a career-high 643 pass attempts in 2022. It's his fourth year with all-world wideout Justin Jefferson and his first full season with both tight end T.J. Hockenson and rookie speedster Jordan Addison. If Cousins can maintain his throwing efficiency from last year with a better receiving corps, he should improve his stats, including his low 4.63 yards after catch per completion and 4.5% TD rate, both outside of the top 15 among qualified QBs. Because he's not popular, he'll be a bargain on Draft Day as the 12th-to-15th QB off the board. That means he's an easy late-round pick in one-QB formats and a sensational top-30 pick in Superflex/two-QB formats.

Cousins has finished among the top 12 fantasy QBs in five of the last seven NFL seasons. He now plays in one of the league’s pass-heaviest offenses, with star pass catchers WR Justin Jefferson and TE T.J. Hockenson.Cousins doesn’t present the highest ceiling. But you can feel good about him just beyond the QB1 range in drafts and land a guy with upside at least into the top 8.

What We Learned Last YearCousins finished QB8, his fifth season among the top 12 in the past seven years.He finished among the top 12 QBs in nine weeks. Cousins started all 17 games, completing 424 passes on 643 attempts for 4,547 passing yards, with 29 TDs and 14 INTs.Among 24 QBs with at least 400 dropbacks, Cousins tied for ninth in Pro Football Focus passing grade, ranked 12th in adjusted completion percentage (76.0%), and tied for 11th in passer rating (92.5).The Vikings traded for TE T.J. Hockenson ahead of Week 9 last year. Cousins’ yardage climbed significantly after the trade, without much movement in other categories. Check his weekly averages before and after the trade:Week 1-8: 25 completions, 37.7 attempts, 247.7 passing yards, 4.2% TD rate, QB13 overall (17.7 fantasy points per game)Week 9-18: 24.7 completions, 37.8 attempts, 279.8 passing yards, 4.8% TD rate, QB10 overall (17.9 fantasy points per game)The Vikings ranked fifth in the league in pass rate in their first season under HC Kevin O’Connell. They attempted the league’s third-most passes, trailing only the Buccaneers and Chargers.What to Expect in 2023Cousins will lead another pass-happy offense.The Vikings released RB Dalvin Cook this spring, leaving the backfield weaker than in 2022.The team also gave Cousins a new weapon, first-round pick WR Jordan Addison out of USC. He’ll get a chance to take over WR Adam Thielen’s vacated role.

Cousins has finished as a top-12 fantasy QB seven of the past eight seasons, though his eighth-place showing in 2022 was his first top 10 since 2017. Cousins finished last season no lower than fifth in pass attempts, yards and TDs, and -- believe it or not -- Minnesota ranks sixth in the NFL in offensive TDs since he arrived in 2018. The drawback with Cousins is that he's a nonfactor with his legs. He posted a 31-97-2 rushing line last season and hasn't cleared 156 yards or two TDs on the ground since 2017. Cousins has proven to be a good QB2 and bye-week replacement, but even with Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson as his top targets, he simply lacks the upside you want in your weekly starter.