The 49ers Won’t Be Competitive for the First Half of Kirk Cousins’ Contract
Assuming a four-year deal is what’s coming Cousins’ way, we can try to match up the quarterback’s fit over the course of San Francisco’s ongoing rebuild.
Yes, general manager John Lynch put forth a great effort getting the team’s reconstruction started. But it’s going to take time.
Remember those film clips of Kirk Cousins missing receivers with a relatively clear pocket?
A year ago, Football Outsiders ranked the Redskins offensive line No. 3 in pass protection. Back in 2015, this same group came in 10th. But by comparison, the 49ers finished 31st and 30th in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
San Francisco made relatively few changes to its O-line this offseason, aside from trading for center Jeremy Zuttah and signing a handful of merely OK-at-best free agents (Tim Barnes, Brandon Fusco and Garry Gilliam).
The Niners O-line may wind up being slightly improved by 2018, but we shouldn’t expect a major jump to protect a quarterback like Cousins.
And these tweets should tell you what one might expect:
About five QBs in the league can reset off pressure and consistently make that throw. Kirk Cousins has never been one of those guys.
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) January 2, 2017
Kirk Cousins was only under pressure on 8 of 53 dropbacks. 126.1 QB Rating without pressure, 57.8 QB Rating with pressure.
— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) November 25, 2016
Forget receiving weapons, which are lacking in San Francisco right now. The lack of an established O-line — which will take time to build — means Cousins won’t be anything close to the kind of numbers he generated in Washington.
Again, worth the big contract? Probably not.