Cousins to start 2015 Season

Here is the whole piece.



https://grantland.com/the-triangle/nfl-2015-season-predictions-part-1-the-cellar-dwellers/

ugg... this is from Grantland today.


The life-saving Pro-Football-Reference.com has an interception percentage index statistic that adjusts a quarterback’s interception rate for the era in which he plays. Over his first three seasons, Cousins’s INT%+ is a dismal 66. Nobody in the history of the National Football League whose total number of pass attempts over their first three seasons equals Cousins’s total has thrown interceptions at a higher rate (relative to their peers) than he has. He took that title away from Ryan Leaf, who is the only other player in the 60s, at 67. That somehow makes it worse.

I don't see how they arrived at Cousin's "66" sounds like fun with numbers to me. A lot of those guys with high INTs don't average almost 300 yards a game passing like Kirk did last year. I think Leaf averaged less than 150 a game. Kirk still has upside. You know what you get with Colt, his best usually
isn't good enough and Griffin gets worse by the day.

I just don't look at any of our OBs with burgundy colored glassed. This year seems to me to be heading alot like the Beck/Grossman year. When I hear guys like Gruden say we have three great Qbs to me it sounds like we don'e have one on the roster at all(cliche). Gruden even tried to down play that cliche in one of his pressers.

When RG III failed to look any better in the preseason than he did last year I lost most of the hope I had for a successful season.

Yeah I am a little salty on the skins at this point. I love this team and I am not jumping ship.

My Cousins take: He is a classic Gruden QB. Technically sound but overwhelmingly mediocre. He will look great when things are perfect. When the play call matches the defense, when the primary read is open, when he gets great protection and most importantly, when he is playing with the lead. When any of those break down however, so does he...quickly.

Ask him to perform at a high level over a period of time and you will be disappointed. He is too careless with the ball, too pre-determined with where the ball will go and doesn't rally from adversity well.

If he starts all 16 games, he will probably put up good numbers on paper.. 3200 or so yards, 5 or 6 300 yard games, probably 18-24 TD with 14-18 INT.. The reality however will probably result in a 3-5 win season and fans hoping 'that he can put it all together with a full offseason of being the starter'.

Ultimately Cousins is fools gold.

I'm past the whole RGIII in dc working idea. However, I am also done with Gruden. He doesn't seem like he has any clue and frankly a guy who is stubborn about his system and doesn't adjust to his players strengths is not a good coach IMO. That is the origins of "coaching."

When personnel extraordinaire shanarat criticizes you for not adjusting to your players' strengths...well...you aren't that good.

My Cousins take: He is a classic Gruden QB. Technically sound but overwhelmingly mediocre. He will look great when things are perfect. When the play call matches the defense, when the primary read is open, when he gets great protection and most importantly, when he is playing with the lead. When any of those break down however, so does he...quickly.

Ask him to perform at a high level over a period of time and you will be disappointed. He is too careless with the ball, too pre-determined with where the ball will go and doesn't rally from adversity well.

If he starts all 16 games, he will probably put up good numbers on paper.. 3200 or so yards, 5 or 6 300 yard games, probably 18-24 TD with 14-18 INT.. The reality however will probably result in a 3-5 win season and fans hoping 'that he can put it all together with a full offseason of being the starter'.

Ultimately Cousins is fools gold.


We all "hope" we are wrong, but I agree.


kingj

"I'm past the whole RGIII in dc working idea. However, I am also done with Gruden. He doesn't seem like he has any clue and frankly a guy who is stubborn about his system and doesn't adjust to his players strengths is not a good coach IMO. That is the origins of "coaching."

When personnel extraordinaire shanarat criticizes you for not adjusting to your players' strengths...well...you aren't that good."

You are 100% right. The system should be adapted for your players strengths. If you are failing to do that then you are not a good coach. Its like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The coach is being stubborn to a point of hurting everyone.

My Cousins take: He is a classic Gruden QB. Technically sound but overwhelmingly mediocre. He will look great when things are perfect. When the play call matches the defense, when the primary read is open, when he gets great protection and most importantly, when he is playing with the lead. When any of those break down however, so does he...quickly.

Ask him to perform at a high level over a period of time and you will be disappointed. He is too careless with the ball, too pre-determined with where the ball will go and doesn't rally from adversity well.

If he starts all 16 games, he will probably put up good numbers on paper.. 3200 or so yards, 5 or 6 300 yard games, probably 18-24 TD with 14-18 INT.. The reality however will probably result in a 3-5 win season and fans hoping 'that he can put it all together with a full offseason of being the starter'.

Ultimately Cousins is fools gold.

I think you have a reasonable assessment of Cousins but I do think if projects out this year with those numbers that we are at 5 or 6 wins for sure. At 6 wins, I'm optimistic, 7 wins or more this year and I'm excited about 2016..

Sunday is going be a good bellwether. The Dolphins have a better team this year but have some weaknesses. If we are competitive and are within 4 points, I think that gives us some positive momentum moving on into the season. I'm a Dolphins fan as well as a Skins fan, so honestly I'll be happy either way but the numbnuts on the Dolphins forums are calling for blowout wins. This team has question marks but I think we are poised to start turning this thing around this year.

I don't think Cousins is fools gold though. He has the tools to be competitive in the league and should be a starter in 2016 whether it's in Landover or elsewhere. As I've said before, interceptions aren't the primary metric that I will judge him by. If he throws 25-30 Ints this year but plays well otherwise, then I want him back as the starter in 2016.

I don't see how they arrived at Cousin's "66" sounds like fun with numbers to me. A lot of those guys with high INTs don't average almost 300 yards a game passing like Kirk did last year. I think Leaf averaged less than 150 a game. Kirk still has upside. You know what you get with Colt, his best usually
isn't good enough and Griffin gets worse by the day.

The + rate they're coming up with is an index, it's indexed about the number 100. In other words, if you take a look at every QB season in NFL history, the QB who is exactly average when it comes to INT rate scores a 100.

Players with lower INT rates will score higher than 100. So if the INT rate for a QB was 120, then that's saying their INT rate is estimated at 20% better than the average bear.

Cousins is 34% worse. They're saying worst rate in history.

No doubt he'll be among league leaders in picks this year, you just want to see signs of improvement.

...His talent in this system isn't worth the distraction quite honesty.

So ultimately Griffin being off this team makes it a better team in the locker room and from a PR standpoint. From a "on the field" standpoint, it really doesn't affect us whether he's on the squad or off of it. All this is purely disregarding the 16 mil as well.I have no doubt that Griffin casts a large shadow over Cousins and Jay.

But removing Griffin from the equation doesn't decrease the need for Kirk and J to produce. They need to produce regardless of the "distraction" Griffin causes. And removing Griffin only removes part of the distraction, Jay and the Redskins as whole create plenty of distraction all on their own. For me removing Griffin from the team just removes Griffin as a fallback option, it moves a safety net. If I'm Scott I can definitely see the value in hedging on Jay's all in push with Kirk by hanging on to Griffin.

I wanted to keep the 16 mil separate because it certainly in and of itself is valid reason for Griffin to be off the team. But, I'm guessing that if the team approached Griffin to alter/rescind/restructure the option/contract to stay on the team I bet he would be open to it. If he's not then, Vaya con Dios.

The question of keeping RGIII as a fall-back option, to me, is a question of risk/reward balancing. First, it is based on an assumption that KC/JG fail b/c, if they succeed, then no reason at all to keep RGIII.

Assuming they fail, what value does Griffin provide as a fall-back option? I would suggest minimal to none. Keeping him to foist on yet another regime, IMHO, limits potential coaching hires - "He couldn't make it work with his last two coaches, but he's your QB." Pretty sure that would be a deal breaker for a lot of guys. Even if the potential hire is told "Look, just kick the tires. If he doesn't work out for you, you don't have to play him," what coach wants to walk into that or would trust that statement? Would you? Two coaches out the door and RGIII still hangs around.

The more I look at it the more I am convinced that - as much as I wish it wasn't true - RGIII's time here should end. It's time to cut our losses and move on. Even if JG was responsible for his further regression, I just don't see any scenario where a coach comes here and revitalizes his career.

At this point, I just don't see an offense that works for him, and, contrary to your opinion, I don't see a SM driven clean-sweep as a bad thing. New coach gets his QB and is not saddled with an injury prone guy who, after four years in the league, is basically still a developmental QB who cannot seem to avoid off the field drama.