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Cousins looks likely to start Week 1, but fantasy drafters shouldn’t treat him as more than a short-term bridge. His 2025 profile showed clear decline, and the Raiders are positioned to lean run with Ashton Jeanty and new HC Klint Kubiak. Cousins is only a deep superflex option.
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Cousins averaged 205.5 passing yards per game across eight starts for the Falcons, but that leaned heavily on one spike game against Tampa Bay. He threw for 373 yards and three of his 10 TDs vs. the Bucs, which propelled him to a QB4 finish for the week.
Cousins cracked the top 12 only once more in Week 16 at Arizona, when he scored his first rushing TD since 2022.
Cousins played a conservative style, finishing 28th among 42 qualifiers in deep-throw rate (9.7%) and 30th in average depth of target (7.3).
His total volume wasn’t spectacular either, at 31 attempts per start. That ranked 16th among QBs with at least eight starts.
Cousins looked like a QB in decline, setting career lows in:
Atlanta didn’t supply an ideal environment, finishing seventh in pace but 17th in plays, 21st in pass rate, and 26th in pass rate over expected.
Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts both played 17 games. Drake London missed five, including two during Cousins’ starting stretch. Notably, Cousins’ huge game against the Bucs came with London sidelined. (Although 44 pass attempts and a positive matchup certainly helped.)
The Falcons were serviceable up front, finishing 14th in ESPN’s pass-block win rate and 15th in Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade.
Cousins brought no meaningful durability concerns until a 2023 right Achilles tear. He made it back for Week 1 of 2024 and has avoided any injury-related absences since.
Cousins is the favorite to start Week 1 after taking most of the first-team reps in offseason practices, while HC Klint Kubiak has talked about sitting No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza in a “perfect world.”
That would be an unusual (but not unheard of) situation. From 2016-2025, there have been eight QBs selected first overall. Of them, only two didn’t crack the Week 1 starting lineup.
Eventually, we expect Mendoza’s talent to win out. Our projections have Cousins down for only four starts.
This unit should look better with a healthy Brock Bowers, who played through a Week 1 knee injury last season that eventually cost him five games. Still, he led the team with 64 receptions.
Bowers’ health is vital, given this group’s WR depth.
Tre Tucker returns after leading Vegas in receiving yards in 2025. But that campaign turned up poor efficiency marks, including 1.26 yards per route run and 0.16 targets per route run.
The Raiders signed former Viking Jalen Nailor to a three-year deal with $23 million guaranteed. But he’s never been a full-season starter, spending his first four seasons behind a combination of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Adam Thielen.
Jack Bech brings nice size (6’1, 214) and the promise of a second-year Round 2 pick. Still, his rookie year turned up only 20 catches for 224 yards in 16 games.
Round 6 rookie Malik Benson and 2025 Round 4 pick Donte’ Thornton add speed but look merely like rotational pieces.
With better health, the O-line should improve on its finishes of 28th in PFF pass-blocking grade and 30th in adjusted sack rate. LT Kolton Miller and G Jackson Powers-Johnson return after injury-wrecked 2025 campaigns. The Raiders also added Tyler Linderbaum, a major center upgrade after his fourth-place finish among 41 qualifiers in PFF run-blocking grade.
Cousins spent three seasons with Kubiak in Minnesota, including a strong 2021 campaign with Kubiak calling plays.
The Vikings posted a 60.1% pass rate that year, ranking 21st league-wide, and finished in the same spot in pass rate over expected. Cousins threw for 4,221 yards, 33 TDs, and just 7 INTs that year, topping league average in both completion rate (66.3%) and yards per attempt (7.5).
But that was five years ago, and Cousins had Justin Jefferson. This Raiders passing game offers little to get excited about beyond Bowers.
Ashton Jeanty gives Vegas a potentially strong backfield foundation, which could push Kubiak toward the formula he used in Seattle last year. The 2025 Seahawks finished 30th in pass rate and 27th in pass rate over expected. That kind of low volume would make it tough for Cousins to deliver fantasy value.
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Healthy Brock Bowers Set Up for a Career Year in Klint Kubiak's Offense
Healthy Brock Bowers Set Up for a Career Year in Klint Kubiak's Offense
According to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden, Brock Bowers is fully healthy and set up for a potential career year. He impressed everyone from new QB Kirk Cousins to HC Klint Kubiak during OTAs, with his health and talent on full display. Cousins even compared Bowers to Jordan Reed in Washington, whom he called “arguably their best eligible player there.” Reed led the league in PPR points per game in 2015 (17.6).
Fernando Mendoza Shares Area of Focus at Rookie Minicamp
Fernando Mendoza Shares Area of Focus at Rookie Minicamp
Raiders QB Fernando Mendoza said he has a “long way to go” in his adjustment to playing under center. He took only 3% of his snaps under center at Indiana last season, per ESPN.
Will Kirk Cousins Start Week 1 for the Raiders?
Will Kirk Cousins Start Week 1 for the Raiders?
QB Kirk Cousins agreed to a contract with the Las Vegas Raiders per his agent. With only QB Aidan O'Connell currently on the roster, the Raiders plan to draft QB Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick. But, HC Klint Kubiak expressed interest in signing a veteran QB to not force Mendoza into the lineup for Week 1. Kubiak coached Cousins for three seasons in Minnesota, so the fit should be easy into Kubiak's offense. Cousins appears to be the perfect fit to start the season and let Mendoza ease into the NFL. Cousins should be the favorite to start Week 1.
Kirk Cousins Set to Hit the Market
Kirk Cousins Set to Hit the Market
The Falcons have told QB Kirk Cousins that they'll release him at the beginning of the 2026 league year, according to Josh Kendall of The Athletic.
Falcons Land Kevin Stefanski As HC
Falcons Land Kevin Stefanski As HC
The Falcons are hiring Kevin Stefanski as their new HC. He's expected to retain DC Jeff Ulbrich and bring Tommy Rees with him from Cleveland to serve as OC, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Stefanski spent the past six seasons as Browns HC, compiling a 45-56 record. He went 37-30 with two playoff appearances over the first four years, the first of two coming with QB Baker Mayfield. Stefanski was in Minnesota for 14 seasons prior to Cleveland, serving as OC in his final year there. That 2019 Vikings team was quarterbacked by Kirk Cousins, who remains signed with the Falcons as of now. QB Michael Penix is also on the roster but is working back from ACL surgery that's expected to sideline him into August. QB is the big question for Atlanta heading into 2026. But Stefanski will be armed with a sturdy offensive line and a pair of high-end skill players in RB Bijan Robinson and WR Drake London.
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