Your last phrases are key, and I agree with them. The thing is that Cousins isn't the answer. He provides only a short term window of escape from that purgatory, and if his play deteriorated quickly, would continue that purgatory. The chances are better for a long-term escape from that purgatory by drafting a QB in the first round.
5-7 in the NFL is a long time. Actually it was 7 years ago that we were in the playoffs. 7 years ago, is a very long time. The point here is not to ignore QB and it's not like Kirk makes it impossible to draft a QB and actually have him sit on the bench without the media clamoring for him to play (ie: Hack).
The thing is even if his play does not decline, we can still be in purgatory. He just spent 3 years in purgatory in Washington putting up great fantasy numbers.
At this point in the process, my draft board would probably look like this after signing Cousins. 1. Barkley 2. Trade down 3. Nelson 4. Chubb 5. Williams I would inquire about the 3 spot if Barkley got past the Giants. If Barkley was gone, I’d strongly be looking to take advantage of a desperate team looking for a QB. Getting some extra picks this year plus a 1st next year from a team like Arizona sounds mighty enticing.
I think you're dreaming if you think you'll get 7 years out of Cousins. I think 2-4 (if that) would be more likely. Even if you got 7 years, that isn't as long as 10-15 years (or more). I also think you're dreaming that the Jets will draft a QB in the 1st round if they sign Cousins. Cousins wouldn't go for that, and it would be a wasted draft pick, because Cousins will command $28-$30 million or more per season. He isn't gonna sit on the bench. So that rookie QB would be guaranteed to sit on the bench for the duration of his rookie contract. That makes zero sense, unless you're speaking of drafting a QB in the 3rd or 4th round to be the backup or a developmental prospect that they could trade later.
Hopefully Mac moves on. This class is way too deep, not to revamp the depth in terms of the QB position
No where in my post did I say first round. What I'm saying is the Jets can draft a QB in a later round (should have made this clearer on my end) and actually properly develop that QB without the media/fans clamoring for the qb to play. Cousins is just turning 30, its entirely possible to get 5-7 years of very solid QB play. Unless he somehow loses all his abilities within 2-4 years which would seem very unlikely, especially given the longevity of modern QB's.
Here's a beakdown of who caught Deshaun Watson's 19 touchdowns. DeAndre Hopkins 7 Will Fuller 7 Lamar Miller 2 Braxton Miller 1 Bruce Ellington 1 Ryan Griffin 1 DeAndre Hopkins 72 yd td Will Fuller 59 yd td Will Fuller 48 yd td Will Fuller 39 yd td DeAndre Hopkins 34 yd td Bruce Ellington 29 yd td Will Fuller 20 yd td Will Fuller 16 yd td Ryan Griffin 12 yd td Will Fuller 10 yd td Will Fuller 9 yd td DeAndre Hopkins 8 yd td Lamar Miller 8 yd td DeAndre Hopkins 6 yd td DeAndre Hopkins 4 yd td DeAndre Hopkins 3 yd td Lamar Miller 2 yd td DeAndre Hopkins 1 yd td Braxton Miller 1 yd td Nobody else (outside of Rodgers, Brady, and Brees) is putting up Deshaun Watson's stats just because of Hopkins being there. I would argue to say BOTH Fuller and Hopkins had career years because of Watson being their quarterback for 7 games.
Good call LF9. This is what I keep trying to stress in my posts. If your the Jets you have absolutely no right to expect that your going draft anything that EVER develops into what Kirk Cousins is now, let alone better. Is it possible Mayfield or Luke Jackson could be better? I guess.... technically. But realistically its not happening. Production like that just doesn't fall off the turnip truck in the middle of the road out in front of the Jets complex under normal circumstances. The one thing Cousins is missing is "reputation" One deep playoff run on a real team where he makes some nice throws or leads some random comeback and then all of a sudden everybody would think he's awesome. Even though he'd be the same exact guy we are trying to get now.... he just led some random comeback and put it on his resume. I say try to give him the chance. I'd roll the dice on Rosen, Darnold, or Allen myself but currently those are not going to be options at pick #6 so saying you'd rather have those guys is irrelevant. Unless you trade 46 future draft picks for them and I think that would be a potential franchise-killing mistake.
Wow... nice job on that research project. Here I am turning into "pound the table" bullish on the idea of getting Cousins and even I'm a little taken aback that he's top 10. And some of the names he's put up a better rating than is pretty impressive.
Problem is extrapolating numbers doesn't always work without having watched the player. It's not just the 12 picks, it's when they happen. The pick he threw at the end of the half vs the Pats or the end of the game vs the fins led to turning those games around. You just can't say the numbers where the same, or would have been. Just as ignoring the age difference between McCowan and Cousins is a little dishonest when comparing the two. There is a nine year difference And you should look at who was lost off of that Skins team a year ago and see what he was playing with. We were nowhere near what he was dealing with. From the injuries to the OL, WRs, TEs on down. Another reason why what McCowan did doesn't tell the whole story, Cousins had nothing and was running for his life.
Without thee being a contract you know there will be a serious cap hit just how? Mo Wilk, Osweiler, Glennon, etc, all with big contracts, who's getting limited off of serious cap hits?
I looked at them too after my post. Hopkin's stats are almost 50/50 with and without Watson. I stand by my position that any QB could have gotten him the ball. With Fuller, Watson and him got to work together early in rookie camp, so I imagine the comfort level with each other explains the exceptional statistics for Fuller when Watson was there and then the substantial drop off when Watson went out. And again, 5 of Watson's 7 games were indoors. Watson may very well work out to become a HoF player. I hope he does, he's a likable guy. I'm not ready to crown him until I see more data.
You can build around Kirk Cousins. He would turn 35 heading into his 6th season as a Jet. Entire NFL rosters get turned over during that time period. I'm not sure why there is a win now notion with him. They can continue to add players over the next 5 seasons as they would anyways. It accelerates the process as they wouldn't have to trade multiple draft picks to get the THRID best QB prospect in the draft.
But his two outdoor games @seattle and @New England were both really good games for Watson. He actually had a third outdoor game at Cincinnati but that was one of his first ever starts. Seeing more data is important but he had a better stretch then almost any rookie QB in NFL history, some of the throws he made were pretty crazy and not throws I thought he could make, I think him and O'Brien are a match made in QB heaven
End of the day. Watson is a stud. As long as his knee isn't a problem, he's going to be one of the top 5 qb's in the NFL for years to come.
....and the outdoor games were in Sept so the weather was warm. But I want to say that I absolutely recognize that Watson's start was remarkable. I am very skeptical of staying power in the NFL. It's so difficult to maintain that level of success -- especially after injury. Drawing upon Robert Griffin's remarkable start and being out of the league now, there is a lot of time left to determine Watson's fate.
