Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had a solid 2018 season numbers wise, finishing with a career-high 30 touchdowns to go with 4,298 passing yards.
When the Vikings were knocking at the door of the end zone, Cousins was very good. Per Pro Football Focus, Cousins’ 82.5 grade in the red zone ranked second in the entire NFL, only behind Drew Brees. Cousins was ahead of Andrew Luck, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers.
Not bad company.
Here’s what PFF wrote about Cousins in the red zone:
After earning red-zone grades of 61.1, 41.1, and 59.1 in his first three years as the starter in Washington, Cousins underwent somewhat of a red-zone transformation over the course of his first year in Minnesota. Through 16 regular-season games, Cousins notched a 75.0% adjusted completion percentage, a 66.7% completion percentage, a 114.7 red-zone passer rating, and a 9.7% red-zone big-time throw percentage — all career highs — which respectively ranked fourth, third, third, and second among qualifying quarterbacks last year.
It probably shouldn’t be a huge surprise Cousins had so much success in the red zone considering he was throwing to guys like Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
With a hopefully better offensive line, we’ll see if Cousins can continue his success in the red zone in 2019.
