[44Deezel]

Originally Posted by calia

Cousins needs a chance -- and not just a handful of games -- to show whether he can be a franchise QB, and only time will tell. Here's a look at stats for some other noteworthy QBs their first season starting, and then compared to what Cousins did last season:

Payton Manning (1998): 26 TD, 28 INT, 3739 YRD
Drew Brees (2002): 17 TD, 16 INT, 3284 YRD
Andrew Luck (2012): 23 TD, 18 INT, 4374 YRD
Tom Brady (2001): 18 TD, 12 INT, 2843 YRD

Kirk Cousins (2014, 6 starts*): 10 TD, 9 INT, 1710 YRD
* given how early he entered the JAX game, I have assumed that a start
Kirk Cousins (if adjusted same #s for 16 games): 26.7 TD, 24 INT, 4560 YRD

More TDs than any of the above QBs, although also more INTs than everyone except Payton Manning. And more yards than everyone too.

To be clear, I am not saying Kirk will be on par with any of these folks -- who the heck knows if that is possible? Again, only time will tell. But one cannot look at the numbers and conclude he's just a stop gap to a real franchise QB either. Let's not forget, Brady and Luck (at least) had better starting casts around them than Cousins had here last year too.

Let's give the guy a chance -- even with the inevitable growing pains. What do we have to lose at this point?

And Brees followed up 17TDs and 16INTs with 11TDs and 15INTs the next season. THEN, the the year after that he had 27TDs and only 7INTs. By that time, the Chargers had already decided to move on and had drafted Philip Rivers. Cousins may never solve the turnover/confidence problem, but it's way too early to close the book on him. After a full season this year, we should know exactly what we have in him and whether or not it's back to the drawing board as far as the QB position goes.