“I’m a Kirk Cousins Guy”. No really…I am.
RWNation Guest Commentary by Uncle Big Bad

Dating life. In 2016 and in your mid 30’s, it can be torture. Recently, I went on a date with a girl I met on Tinder (don’t judge). She was amazing. Smart, super quick witted, could hold her own in the banter contest, and sexy as hell. The date went just fine….until the end, when she felt the need to inform me that her feet smelled terrible. ALL OF THE TIME. I’m not kidding. She had chronic foot odor problems. And apparently it was bad. Real bad. And no, I didn’t ask to smell them. She was quickly dropped off to her house and quickly blocked from my phone. Yes people, I’m this shallow. But more so, I was disappointed. She had all these great qualities, yet this one element of her being was a deal breaker. Before meeting, I had built her up in my head as this fantastic flawless creature. Only to find out her feet had been rotting in a landfill. Which brings me to my point about Kirk Cousins. He’s just a girl from Tinder in need of some odor eaters.

In most of my season-long leagues, I targeted Cousins pretty hard. We all know the quarterback market is saturated with viable options week in and week out. So why take one early? If you are a member of RW Nation, subscribe to the site, use the phenomenal cheat sheet and listen to Radio Gold on Sirius XM, you know Cousins was a guy we were targeting to help win leagues. And rightfully so. Without even getting into the fact that after the bye last year he threw 20 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions, the situation alone screams of value, upside, and a monster season for 2016.

Let’s really break down the situation: The Redskins cannot run the ball. This is a pass-first team by all means, and they should be. In week one against the Steelers, the Redskins had 12 rushing attempts. One of those was a scramble by Cousins. Jay Gruden wants to throw the ball!!! Cousins had 543 attempts last year and I fully expect that number to exceed 600 in 2016, with what looks like some negative game script on its way. That’s about 2.5 extra games of passing! Combine that with the fact that the Skins have one of the least competent running backs, who has a fumbling problem, runs too upright, seems injury prone and doesn’t catch passes, and this offense is just begging for QB fantasy goodness. In other words, the volume is there. Cousins threw the ball 43 times for 329 yards in week one against the Steelers. Albeit he didn’t throw a touchdown, but that’s an anomaly. It has to be. Which leads me to…

The weapons: The Redskins have a very dynamic group of pass catchers. Jordan Reed is clearly his go to guy and touchdown maker. Cousins has shown a propensity to be able to throw deep (again ignoring week one, the outlier) which is Desean Jackson’s specialty. And let’s not forget old man Pierre Garcon for those intermediate routes. Out of the backfield, Chris Thompson proved to be a viable threat last year, but absolutely must step up his pass protection. And lastly, the 22nd overall pick in this years draft, Josh Doctson. He’s not a freak athlete speed demon, but at TCU he was a touchdown magnet, hauling in 25 td’s over his final two years. He’s RWNation’s most precious son and sickest future A.J. Green clone. With such a lofty investment, there’s no doubt the Skins have high expectations for Doctson. Did I mention Jamison Crowder over the middle? And on short routes? There’s a plethora of talented weapons here.

Additionally, Cousins is the clear cut starter on this team. With RG3 somebody else’s headache these days, there’s no uncertainty for Captain Kirk (really?) anymore. It also doesn’t appear that the Redskins defense will be shutting out any opponents this year, which should mean they’ll have to keep throwing each week. More good news for owners of Cousins.

Was week one shaky? Straight up. Did that girl’s feet stink to high hell? You better believe it. But given the volume, surrounding weapons, and negative game scripts coming their way, Cousins has all the scenarios a fantasy owner looks for. A top 5 finish is not out of the question by any means.

There’s a good chance Cousins is unowned in shallower leagues, or was dropped by scared owners after his week one performance. Good for them. Way too much upside there to just throw in the dumpster. Don’t give up after just one bad experience. There’s potential there. Just ask the girl with the disgusting, corroded feet. We’re going for drinks Sunday after the games.