Chris Simms’ 2024 Top 40 QB Countdown: No. 12 Kirk Cousins | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC

Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins slots in at No. 12, part of the “Wild Cards” tier, on Chris Simms’ Top 40 QB Countdown, as Simms discusses how the former Minnesota Vikings signal-caller will adapt to his new environment while coming off an Achilles tear. #NBCSports #ChrisSimmsUnbuttoned #atlantafalcons
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Chris Simms’ 2024 Top 40 QB Countdown: No. 12 Kirk Cousins | Chris Simms Unbuttoned | NFL on NBC
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from a quarterback that is hoping to get paid to a quarterback that always gets paid your number 12 quarterback is well done it is Kirk Cousins the Atlanta Falcons that’s right Kirk o chains love him or hate him he’s your QB in Atlanta right I think I mean Kirk Cousins in a lot of ways sometimes doesn’t get the respect he deserves as a player right we know he’s not yeah he’s not Mr gifted Superstar The Narrative is an alltime business man but just a middling starting quarterback yeah yeah you know I and I understand that narrative but I think he’s more than that I do and here there’s the first thing I would say one of the quickest evaluators of a defense you were going to see at the at the quarterback position in all the NFL right I mean he can see it diagnose it start to start the throwing motion as fast as any QB in the NFL it’s very Joe bur like right where you go how man he got there quick whoa whaty woo he was he was right well how he got to number three that quick oh okay go like I mean he’s he’s amazing that way or coming up out of a play action fake and you’re like man he’s kind of blind and he just like throws it and you’re like whoa I mean he saw that guy and he knew the defense he knew that guy was about to shuffle that way and he put it in a window and the receiver wasn’t even there yet and boom bam they hit it 25 yard gain first down right he’s got a almost a six sense that way and that’s where you know his his knowledge of an offense who he’s been taught by in the past all of that he is he’s a great cerebral quarterback right but it’s not just that he has a great blend of system Surgical and aggressive playmaking ability in the pocket right it’s not wowing you you’re not going to go oh my gosh that’s the big Best laser I’ve ever seen in my life you’re not going to go oh my gosh that was the prettiest bomb I’ve ever saw ever he threw that 70 in the air and it dropped down per no you’re you’re not going to do that right but his accuracy is incredible on all levels especially intermediate throws throws somewhere between 10 and 25 yards he is awesome right he is amazing and of course in the short game he is throw he’s really good as well right got great feel in the pocket you know and he’s tough as hell he is he hangs in there and he gets crushed and he’s not a real big guy he’s got great feel of where to slide and move in the pocket as we know after that movement is not one of his things he’s not going to get out of the pocket make plays scramble to make big throws that’s really not part of his game that’s very rare you see that so you know those are some of the good now the negatives there’s a few throws every game where you wish his arm was a little bit more power powerful and of course the same thing with his athletic ability he is a below average athletic quarterback for 2024 I mean he’s he’s one of the Lesser athletes in all of football when it comes to that category right it’s rare right I mean we’re in the era now of like hey if one and two weren’t open you need to be able to go run for seven or eight yards every time he’s not going to do that he’s got to go wait I can go through one to two really quick and I can find three because I can’t run so watch how quickly I can get to that guy right that’s how he has to do that that way um so that’s where he’s really impressive now also negatives and I’ve said this and you know this one of the slower releases you will see and no arm angles right those are things that I would go not only are there a few throws every game where you go ooh I wish his arm was Stronger every now and then you go man can you just flick it out there a little bit or hey there’s this can you throw it sidearm right there’s a few plays every game where I go wait that guy just did that and it was a first down and you you know have to be in this perfect throwing motion and be all mechanically sound to get it done and those are negatives about his game for sure you need to protect for him then in those situations which the Atlanta Falcon should be able to do offensive Line’s pretty pretty good good that’s right um so he is perhaps the most consistent quarterback that you have ever ranked in your top I saw this I I’m like I believe it but I he 12 he was 12 last year in the what’s your ceiling tier uh kind of similar here in this year uh seven years of the Sims top 40 he has never been higher than 12 or lower than 16 probably gets thought about it nine and 10 a lot but it never quite makes it yeah and some of his stats yearly are top 10ish quarterback yards and and touchdowns and all that uh so he has not yet been fully cleared 100% for OTAs and all all the physical activities he’s getting there though and so that will be one of the questions with him is that how quickly he can hit the ground running coming off the injury here given the fact that he already was a limited athletic quarterback exactly right you got that right we do have some video of him at OTA so maybe we get some he’s got he is a guy that is is he needs his body to throw the football and like we’re going to see on these clips right here his body’s not ready to throw the football yet well I mean he’s not like pushing off his back leg very aggressively in all Clips I’ve seen so far you know that that first one wasn’t bad uh but this is one like I kind of talked about this with my dad a little bit uh when he was on the on the Pod a little we sent enough Clips too like he’s still favoring that back leg Yeah so I almost wonder if you get into some bad habits trying to you do go out there I’ve been there I’ve been there in that issue I’ve had it right I I had a a badly high high ankle sprain when I was playing for the Denver Broncos and I tried to kind of I took missed a few days of practice but I tried to gut it out yeah and and get back on the field and I was on one leg and it caused me to transfer my balance on my front leg more than my back leg it started to throw with my arm more and all a sudden my elbow started to hurt me a little bit right so there can be Ripple effects to that and they’ll have to watch that but yeah like you said this is a guy that wasn’t at like known for his athleticism already and he’s also not known for his arm strength right and his age right and of course the severity of the injury right there’s just a little bit of an unknown that’s why he’s a wild card that’s why we put him in this type of tier right here it is I don’t I don’t know how good he’s going to be I don’t I know it can be good but how good right and he’s a guy that you know he can take advantage of system right as we always talk about and that’s part of his Beauty like the beauty of him you could give him n million plays and 9 million coaching points and he’s just like yep I got it I got it right that’s why McVey loved him that’s why Shanahan loved him because they were like have 9 million plays and rules and this guy remembers them all right so that’s the beauty of him and that’s a skill in itself too that we can’t you know just disregard right but when the system can’t come through right and he plays a good creative dis defense right this is one thing that jumps out when you really watch it and study it right when he plays the defense the system doesn’t come through plays a really good creative defense where the system is not always right right he is not going to make a ton of plays and throws right teams that seem to be creative or can play tight man-to-man coverage he does not Thrive and that was one of the things that kind of popped out to me with watching him and and seeing that he did not perform necessarily that well against the Chiefs although they were close in that game no he had a he had a bad game against the Chiefs and that would be one of the games that I watched to tell you that yeah right it wasn’t you you know Steve spagnolo right when you play the Chiefs you got to be able to just play ball like it’s not going to be like oh I drew it on the board all week and they’re going to be exactly where I thought Steve Spagnola would put them the Chiefs are the ultimate like hey you better be ready to play some football today your coach ain’t going to be able to tell you every thing they’re doing so you got to make plays and reads and do that that’s where it’s yeah not always great right in in that department the 49ers I know people will say well that’s a great defense he did good against that the 49ers ran two defenses I mean they run two defenses basically so he knew where they were going to be and oconnell had great information being from the Rams and playing the 49ers to go I know the plays that the 49ers don’t like and they systematically screwed them right but yeah the some of the Bears game right games like that because they do a lot of stuff on defense they play manto man they put pressure on you that way that was kind of the thing that jumped out to me a little bit with Todd bows in week one right some crazy stuff there too right not that he played bad but again in those games it’s just not quite the surgical and all that and then it becomes into hey no no no the pockets collaps and you got to make a big throw here into a tight window and that’s not where he’s always going to come through some of the reasons why that maybe the Vikings Panthers game that was his worst game same thing great defense really creative All Over The Bu and you can’t pin it down to oh I know what they’re going to be on second and seven right yeah and that’s that’s where he doesn’t always Thrive so you were questioning at times why the Vikings would not just pay him but maybe this is some of the thought process that was in that building and especially coming off of the injury and on a recent episode of the podcast ofman Adams with K Adams a former Viking Jared Allen had to say this about him he goes I’m glad the Vikings didn’t spend 45 million per year to keep Kurt Cousins nothing against kurk cousins but when you’re trying to build an organization I don’t think a mid-30s quarterback coming off an Achilles tear is where you want to spend your money I think that’s where their mind was right you know quesia dafo Mena boom killed it nailed it right that’s and and he he he obviously had a vision and he had alluded to two years ago right because Florio used to bring this up because he’s such a Vikings fan that you know cousins isn’t a take over the game Superstar type of guy right so yeah they’re they’re looking for that uh I think you know overall hey yeah it’s not easy just to let go of some guy who you go damn that’s good he’s a quarterback 45 million ain’t that really expensive anymore right I mean it’s it’s not the worst it shouldn’t kill your football team that’s for sure that’s where I was like wow I mean you’re just taking one that you got and like he’s good and oconnell is that kind of guy we’ve been talking about like I got system rules and all that you know that’s where I thought there was tremendous risk but to their credit they found a guy that I think is very similar cerebrally cerebral like kurk cousins let alone better physical attributes and JJ McCarthy and I think they have a better upside with JJ McCarthy ultimately in you know a few years than they do with with with cousin there was no guarantee they were going to get JJ or any one of those quarterbacks who knows but the way it worked out I’m sure they’re looking back and being like we’re okay with how we how we play our hand right here so for kurk cousins he played his hand into Atlanta you’ve said before you think that the leash will be long with him even with Michael penck there it’ll be a leash tied to a leash tied to another leash because Kirk they paid him they want this to work out well for cousins there so will it so the weapons around him L uh Drake London Darnell Mooney right Rond Del Moore yeah you got the running of be Robinson got good offense yeah Kyle Pitts got a good offensive line it’s it’s there for him better than Minnesota oo I think it’s clearly I think it’s a more physical dominant run offensive line that’s where I would definitely give him an advantage there no I’m not going to say that receiving group is of Minnesota right when you just take away Jefferson right uh Addison y you know I know he had KJ Osborne last year he’s not there anymore and Hinson I don’t think I’m going to put put Atlanta quite there but but like a chance a chance you know again Darnell Mooney’s got something to him Rond Del Moore we know if he can stay healthy he’s got something to him too uh and and you know I think it’s a a systematical fit that’s going to be comfortable for Kirk Cousins and not too different than what he did with McVey and shannan or oconnell so he’s going to feel comfortable there so yeah it’s uh but but my big thing with him is is it going to be more than one year that’s where like you know my dad brought this up when you decided to skip the podcast a few weeks ago he he thinks like there is no way Kirk Cousins is more than one year and I can certainly see that logic right full year of just watching Michael penx and what he can do and from all du accounts like I told you it sounds like they had a grade or a feel of him that he was as good as anybody they’d seen in a long time like those are things when I hear that I go well yeah I don’t know Kur cousin is going to have to work for year or to I think that’s what’s going to happen he’s had to work for a year two I’m sure he’s still a little Shook Up by that cuz he was on a podcast with Jeff francour a former Atlanta Braves player he goes quote so even now with the Falcons drafting a quarterback out of nowhere just three or four weeks ago I’m reminded again Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 and six very religious guy that is submit yourself fully uh to your belief in God so I mean you can tell even with that quote he’s like drafting a quarterback out of nowhere he had no idea um but he’s just going to ride the wave and take one year at a time and maybe that’s all it is no nothing he can do I’m sure he was shocked how could he not be it does put more pressure on him it makes the situation more uncomfortable but at the end of the day is still going out and Performing Under Pressure he’s used to that and uh I think he’ll be just fine yo yo yo what’s up thanks for watching homies you know it’s the off season but there’s no off season with Chris Sims unbutton where’re it’s the NFL it goes all year around all right so hit subscribe please to hear my thoughts on your favorite team your favorite quarterback and hey how this season might unfold as we get ready for the 2024 season we got a better picture clear look now now that the draft is over free agency we know who’s playing quarterback for certain teams so again thanks for watching and remember to subscribe peace out homies check you out soon