It's fair to say that Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins entered the 2015 season with little-to-no confidence from the majority of Redskins observers. The former fourth-round pick had posted one of the highest interception rates in league history up to that point, and opened the year with four multi-pick outings in his first six games.
But then, something funny happened. Cousins started to actually play well. Since Week 6, Cousins has put up an impressive 20:3 TD-to-INT ratio while winning six of nine games. Thanks to their Saturday night win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington is in the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and just the sixth time since 1992.
Over that time, Cousins has also emerged as a borderline top-ten quarterback in fantasy football. He's coming off back-to-back four TD games and has thrown for 3,990 yards with 31 total scores (26 passing, 5 rushing) on the season. But his future is up in the air as unrestricted free agency looms. What will happen to Cousins next year?
"Well, he'll be looking for big money and Washington is likely to provide it, anything so they can move on from Robert Griffin III, and perhaps unlike most, I'm going to be optimistic that what we saw from Cousins this season wasn't a fluke," ESPN Fantasy Football Insider Eric Karabell wrote. "It's no mystery that cutting down on turnovers is key for the position, and Cousins made adjustments to his game. A Matt Jones breakout at running back and a healthy Jordan Reed could make Cousins a top-10 guy again."
Cousins has improved immensely this year, but he is still prone to poor decision making at times. On the plus side, he gets rid of the ball quickly and has deceptive athleticism for the position. Assuming the Redskins are able to improve the talent around him (they are hurting for help on the interior offensive line and on defense) and Cousins can avoid costly turnovers, there's no reason to think he can't continue to be a viable option for them.
But from a fantasy perspective, he still remains a high end QB2. Despite leading the NFL in completion percentage, Cousins still has 11 single-touchdown pass games on the year. It's only recently that he's begun to consistently put up multiple scores. Don't over reach for him in next year's drafts.
