Kirk Cousins at least second-best Vikings QB all-time?

[RyanChristiansen]

Kirk Cousins is fourth in starts all-time for Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks. As a Vikings fan, it's a little hard to believe. I've seen so many quarterbacks come and go through this franchise. I do remember Tarkenton playing his second time through Minnesota--vaguely--but I was pretty young.

Cousins is not well-liked in Minnesota, but his stats look pretty darn good. He has a great completion percentages, but that's like comparing apples to oranges with quarterbacks from the past. What really stands out is how few interceptions he throws. Tarkenton is still the best, though. I don't know if I'll live long enough to see anyone surpass Tarkenton.

Kirk Cousins (2018-present) - 58 starts, 30-27-1, 68.8% completion percentage, 114 touchdowns, 21 interceptions

Daunte Culpepper (1999-2005) - 80 starts, 38-42-0, 64.4% completion percentage, 135 touchdowns, 86 interceptions

Tommy Kramer (1977-1989) - 110 starts, 54-56-0, 55.1% completion percentage, 159 touchdowns, 157 interceptions

Fran Tarkenton (1961-1966, 1972-1978) - 170 starts, 91-73-6, 57.7% completion percentage, 239 touchdowns, 194 interceptions

[JameisLoseston]

Cousins has pretty stats but he isn't a tenth of the quarterback Tarkenton is. I have to admit this may well be his very best season though, he has become something more than a boring game manager and solidified a place in the top half of current starting QBs. Would still put him in the third tier, though, along with guys like Carr and, for now, Burrow.

[vikingsfan1963]

I always seem to be defending Cousins to my NFL buddies. The Vikes troubles lie mostly defensively and that's why his W-L percentage is mediocre. Plus, the OL has been a revolving door dating back to when Bradford was the QB. I don't think most folks understand just how great Adrian Peterson was!

[JeffreyMiller]

I've always been a Joe Kapp fan, myself.

[Brian wolf]

With Moss and Carter, Culpepper was in line to do good things in Minn and even took them to an NFC Championship game like Wade Wilson and Case Keenum but lost his hunger then got injured.
Cousins to me just isnt a clutch QB and Wade Wilson could never take advantage of the tremendous talent on his Viking teams, so I would have to go with Tommy Kramer. Despite throwing alot of interceptions, Kramer could also lead the team to last second victories, like the one against Cleveland that won them the division in 1980. With a 14-0 lead over the Eagles in the playoffs, the Vikes had their chance at an upset but turned the ball over too much in the second half. A tough loss because once Kramer took over the job from the retiring Tarkenton, the team had to transition to many younger players after so many years relying on past-their-prime veterans ...

Kapp still has to be admired though, for winning in Canada then winning an NFL Championship despite losing the SB.
The Vikings were dumb not re-signing him ...

[Brian wolf]

Maybe I am wrong but I still wonder what might have happened if HC Dennis Green had let QB Randall Cunningham play through his slump in 1999 and try to take the team to the playoffs ?
Instead, like he had done throughout his career with the Vikes, Green switched QBs and let Jeff George use his rocket arm to inspire the team toward a playoff berth, where George's problems --lack of pocket awareness and unwillingness to go after his own fumbles -- reared its ugly head in the playoff loss to the Rams, though George made the final score more respectable with a late rally.

Maybe Green believed that with Culpepper ready to take over the job soon that he needed to bench Cunningham and see what he had in George, though he had his answer once the Vikes were eliminated ...

[sheajets]

Cousins has pretty stats but he isn't a tenth of the quarterback Tarkenton is. I have to admit this may well be his very best season though, he has become something more than a boring game manager and solidified a place in the top half of current starting QBs. Would still put him in the third tier, though, along with guys like Carr and, for now, Burrow.

It's very tough nowadays comparing QB's across different eras with how drastically things have changed. When the gap is as profound as Tarkenton and Cousins I try to avoid 1 vs 1 comparisons altogether. Tarkenton was a better QB than Cousins but I wouldn't go as far as saying he isn't a tenth of the QB Tarkenton is. Tark was a very good QB relative to his peers throughout his entire career with moments of greatness. He wasn't consistently great long enough to go down as one of the immortals (which I would put in the Montana, Marino, Brady, Manning etc) class...but he definitely hit that level. Cousins to me is somewhere between good and very good. At worst he's average. But to me he's never really gotten into that "top 5 QB's in football" category

So many things need to be taken into consideration. What weapons were each QB given? How about the fact that Cousins plays in more ideal conditions while Tarkenton played in the frozen tundra blood and guts era.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Wade Wilson was a very underrated QB when he was with Minnesota, IMO, and I would take him over Cousins. I would say that Cunningham and Culpepper were better than Cousins. Same with Tommy Kramer. Also, Rich Gannon probably would have had a pretty good career in Minnesota. Brad Johnson was hailed as their QB of the future and got a huge contract from the Vikings, but ended up having his best seasons with other teams.

The thing about Cousins is that he always has been an overachiever in terms of what you think he'd be able to do and what he does, dating all the way back to Michigan State. He's a competitor. He has brought stability to the position for the Vikings.

[vikingsfan1963]

I agree that the Vikings blundered by not re-signing Kapp. I believe they would've won Super Bowl V with him. Instead, he misses all of camp and comes in out-of-shape with the Pats and gets brutalized playing behind an awful offensive line. I still say the '70 Pats are one of the all-time worst NFL teams.

[7DnBrnc53]

I agree that the Vikings blundered by not re-signing Kapp. I believe they would've won Super Bowl V with him. Instead, he misses all of camp and comes in out-of-shape with the Pats and gets brutalized playing behind an awful offensive line. I still say the '70 Pats are one of the all-time worst NFL teams.

He also had to deal with racism in Boston, didn't he (and Plunkett)?