Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
I think Cousins locking onto AT has been a problem the whole season, he is getting more comfortable with JJ, but he has left a lot of plays on the field this year because he is going to AT first and even when he comes off of him he often goes back to him and ignores the TEs and 3rd WRs when they are out there. Thats the difference between Cousins and the upper tier of QBs, they have their stars, but when defenses take those guys away they go to their other guys and make the defense pay for over playing the stars, Cousins keeps trying to force the issue and holds the ball to long or forces a bad throw. No reason for this offense not to be much more explosive and that means getting the ball to all the play makers more consistently, not just a couple. that also keeps those guys more into the game, hard to expect somebody to really be engaged when they get 5 snaps a game and are usually a decoy or run blocker.
I agree with Cousins holding the ball too long and it seems like he locks in on the #1 target and doesn't move through his progressions as well as the Top tier guys. I felt the same way but decided to crunch some numbers (yes I am Covid unemployed
. Without boring everyone with stats Cousins has a similar target % of passes to his number one WR (Theilan with JJ very close) of 23% as Wilson and Mahomes. Rodgers is the most reliant on Adams with 26% of his targets. Not catches but targets. Big Ben is the least reliant on his #1 at 21%.
Then when I add in their second WR most targeted Cousins is the same as Mahomes and Wilson at 46%. Ben and Rodgers are lower around 40% but that is because they targeted their #1 too much. Stats don't tell the whole story but they give a perspective. I really only scrutinize the Vikings/Cousins to any extensive degree. I do watch other teams but not with scrutiny so I do see what others are saying but I guess from my sampling that Cousins is not really far off from other Top QB in this specific regard.
I know you mention, not just a couple WR's and spreading the targets so the above is a each teams top 2 targets. Even when adding the top 5 Cousins is pretty much the same as the above.
This last game with the 7 catches for 4 different players here is the breakdown on targets/catches:
JJeff - 7 of 13 targets
Bisi - 7 of 7
Ruddy - 7 of 8
Bebbe - 7 of 7
Dalvin was also 4-4
So the other 3 caught almost ever ball thrown their way to achieve the 7 catches and show great distribution. But again Cousin's is no different in my larger sampling and without my Purple scrutiny.
I do see him hold the damn ball too long, seems to scramble his way into sacks and doesn't step up sometimes even without interior pressure so I agree with that. I think that is what he lacks to be a Top QB and not really target distribution.