Recently, I saw a TikTok in which Bijan Robinson, the Atlanta Falcons’ rookie running back, was asked where he thought Kirk Cousins, the Minnesota Vikings’ franchise quarterback, would end up this off-season. Seemingly joking, he said he hoped Cousins came to Atlanta.
I do not think he was joking, and I agree with him.
After last season, it is clear we need a new QB — a veteran QB. Desmond Ridder is turnover-prone; Taylor Heinecke is serviceable, but at the end of the day, he is a backup QB, and watching him play entire games, it is clear he ought to remain a backup QB. He is good for a solid drive here and there, but he is not the kind of guy you want under center for a season.
The week-to-week gametime decisions of Arthur Smith, our former head coach, as to who is QB for the week — often switching between Ridder and Heinecke mid-game — is a bright, glowing red flag to me.
At this point, many of my fellow Falcons fans and I are waving the white flag.
When Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens’ QB and reigning NFL MVP, was struggling to reach a contract extension last summer, we missed out. And when it became clear we were not going to make a serious playoff run — if we were even going to make the playoffs — we did not tank, so we missed out on the Caleb Williams, the University of Southern California’s QB, sweepstakes.
That is the best word for the situation we are in: “stuck.”
And Cousins, who is recovering from a season-ending injury, is exactly what we need.
He is not anything “special” per se. He does not have the arm of Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs’ QB and reigning Super Bowl MVP, or the legs of Jackson. But he is a very solid, down-the-middle QB, and he can move the ball down the field and put points on the board.
Remember the season before last? Sure, the Vikings got bounced in the first round, but during the regular season, they were electric. Was a lot of that because of Justin Jefferson, who is seen, almost unanimously, as the best wide receiver in the league? Yes, but Cousins played well — very well — too.
Additionally, Cousins has been around the block a couple of times. We are a young team, and we have a lot of talent. Of course, we have Robinson, but we also have Kyle Pitts and Drake London, two cornerstones of our receiving core, and Tyler Allgeier, who is a solid second option in the run game. They are the guys we need to pour our energy into developing, not Ridder and Heinecke, and bringing in an experienced, veteran QB would allow Raheem Morris, our — thank God — new head coach, and the rest of the coaching staff to do just that.
We do not have to be a serious Super Bowl contender yet. That is ambitious and, if I am being honest, unrealistic. But we can — and should — win the NFC South. Hey, if we could win a playoff game — one playoff game — I would be over the moon. We just have to be a decent, respectable team again.
