Redskins Kirk Cousins not playing out of his mind, but is playing above his Draft position.

New York Giants v Washington Redskins

A tweet by Rich Tandler got us thinking.

We dug into the NFL Draft positions of the 2017 Top-10 quarterbacks after 14 weeks.

  • Six were drafted in the first round.
  • Two were drafted in the second or third round, Brees and Wilson
  • Two were drafted in the fourth round or later, Cousins and Brady.

You could say that Kirk and Tom are playing well above their Draft position.

We think that NFL teams undervalue Big Ten quarterbacks – Cousins, Wilson, Brees and Brady were Big Ten stars. None were first-round picks. Both Cousins and Wilson should have been drafted one round ahead of where they were actually selected.

And that gets back to Tandler’s point. You can win with a second-day QB Draft pick, provided you bring them to a compatible coaching situation, seeded with talent to contend and mold the all into a cohesive unit. You know; Build a team.

Here’s a “what if.” In an alternate reality,  what if the Redskins kept all those Draft picks in 2012, allowing Robert Griffin III to go to Cleveland and selected Russell Wilson in the third round? Not that Wilson alone would have led our guys to a Super Bowl. Lets keep this real.

We won’t bash Snyder-Allen-Shanahan for selling out for Griffin. Hog Heaven advocated as much at the time. (There is written and video evidence) For one glorious season it worked beautifully.

Mismanaging negotiations with Kirk, who should have been signed after 2015 at $20 million per year, is only the latest in a long line of Redskins quarterback blunders since Heath Shuler (Drafted in 1994).

This is just fun with numbers. Draw your own conclusions. You know where we stand on Cousins.

PLAYER DRAFT POSITION W-L since 2015 2017 YARDS P/RTG QBR
Tom Brady 2000 6th Rd #199 34-7 4162 104 70.5
Ben Roethlisberger 2004 1st #11 28-11 4025 92.2 63.3
Matt Stafford 2009 1st #1 24-22 3920 99.1 61.9
Drew Brees 2001 2nd #32 24-21 3854 104 58.5
Phil Rivers 2004 1st #4 16-30 3838 93.8 53.3
Alex Smith 2005 1st #1 30-15 3738 105.4 60.8
Russ Wilson 2012 3rd #75 28-17-1 3669 94.1 58.6
Kirk Cousins 2012 4th #102 23-22 3636 98.8 55.9
Jarad Goff 2016 1st #1 10-11 3503 98.9 52.9
Carson Wentz 2016 1st #2 18-11 3296 101.9 75.1

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