If anyone knows quarterbacks, it’s Mike Shanahan. The former Broncos coach won a Super Bowl with Steve Young in San Francisco and two more with John Elway in Denver, ran the show with Jake Plummer, helped Robert Griffin III to one of the finest rookie seasons in league history and groomed future coaches in his son, Kyle, and Gary Kubiak, among others.
Shanahan knows quarterbacks and he knows what it takes to become a great one. He also knows Kirk Cousins, the Redskins’ slinger and potential free-agent target of multiple teams in 2018, Denver included.
At the 2012 Senior Bowl in Alabama, it was Shanahan who coached the South team and watched Cousins up close as the quarterback of the North. In the draft about three months later, it was Shanahan who nabbed Cousins in the fourth round after selecting Griffin in the first.
“You could see that Kirk had the ability to learn any type of offense you wanted to run,” Shanahan said in a phone interview ahead of the Broncos’ game at Washington. “You just look at the intangibles of somebody over a couple of years, being with somebody you get a good feel if that guy has the ability to get to the next level. I was positive at that time that he was going to get to the next level.”
Shanahan saw something that could turn into a bigger something.
The intangibles often get lost in focus on numbers and dollar figures. Though Cousins sits among the top 10 in most major statistical categories for quarterbacks, declaring him a franchise player or truly a top quarterback requires more context. It does for any player, really.
“Work ethic is a big key,” Shanahan explained. “Does he really love football? How does he process things? Whatap his mental makeup? Is he a guy thatap shooting for perfection all the time? Or is he a guy that may be talented but doesn’t have the little things that are going to separate him from the rest of the pack?
“You could see very quickly that he processed football as fast as anybody I’ve ever been with. What I mean by that, is he had the innate ability in the running game, passing game to really try to understand the game inside and out and then once you get on the field, you’re able to process things and make decisions very quickly — read defenses, react to the pocket, being able to slide, understanding the blitz, when to throw the ball away, when to throw to the hot receiver — are all the things that the great quarterbacks have.”
When Shanahan was fired in Washington in 2013, he forecasted Cousins’ future. He told the Redskins that Cousins would be a starter, that he had the pieces to be the franchise player every team covets. He told them that if they wanted Griffin to be a starter then they should get rid of Cousins. And in the years since, Shanahan has remained an ardent supporter of the 29-year-old quarterback, declaring that Cousins can be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
“Thatap what you look for in any quarterback — does he have the ability to get you to the Super Bowl?” Shanahan said. “When I say that, first of all, how many quarterbacks can take somebody to the Super Bowl unless they got a great defense — maybe a top five, top-10 defense? Tell me a team that can get you to a Super Bowl unless the offense has a good running game and takes some of the pressure off the quarterback, so the pressure is not always on him to make that big play all the time because you do have a good running game, you do have a good play-action game, you’re not putting him in third-and-longs.
“So, when we talk about Kirk, when people say does he have the ability to pull in a Super Bowl? Yeah, sure he does. Now, do you have to have the right supporting cast? Sure. You got to have a good running game, you have to have a good defense.”
Since becoming a full-time starter in Washington, Cousins has found success despite having a run game that has ranked 20th, 21st and 26th in the league over the last three years, respectively. He’s found success despite a Redskins defense that has ranked 28th, 28th and 20th in yards allowed.
“Take a look at John, take a look at our running game when I was their coach,” Shanahan said of his time with Elway and the Broncos. “It did take some pressure off of John, averaging over 4 yards a carry. John, of course, when you’re talking about Hall of Fame quarterbacks, they’re in the Hall of Fame because you’re with an organization that has the awareness of what it takes to win one. Thatap why Denver won one a couple years ago. They had one of the best defenses in the league. You had a great quarterback in Peyton Manning. And you had to take pressure off of him with a good running game. If you don’t, sometimes you’re fortunate to be able to win one. But with the way that defense played, it did take a little pressure off the quarterback.
“You take a look at when Jake Plummer came in, and people forget, he had some pretty good years. But every year he had an excellent running game, every year we had a great defense.”
Which of course brings the conversation back to Denver, home to the league’s top defense in total yards and a running game that ranks 14th and, oh by the way, is managed by that Hall of Fame quarterback.
Two weeks remain in the Broncos’ first losing season since 2010. They’ve shuffled between three starters and two offensive coordinators this season and have yet to find direction or reliability at the quarterback position. And while Shanahan is one of the most keen quarterback evaluators around, even he can’t fairly judge the Broncos’ stable of young quarterbacks from afar.
“People ask me that question quite a bit and I tell them, I don’t know,” he said. “Number one, I don’t know the system they’re running. I don’t know it inside and out, so I can’t say how they’re being coached or what they’re being asked to do. And number two, you can’t see them on a day-to-day basis on how they prepare, the intangibles that you look for in a quarterback and exactly what their game plan is. I think the hardest thing to do is for someone like me to even be asked the question about the quarterbacks, even three of them, when you’ve never worked with them and you really don’t know what they’re being asked to do, as well. Thatap just a question I can’t answer.”
But Shanahan does know Cousins and he does know Elway, both of whom could be key players this offseason.
“I know that (John) knows the importance of having a great defense, a great pass rush, great corners. He knows how a good running game takes the pressure off a quarterback,” Shanahan said. “You don’t have to win a game every week with a great defense and balance, and usually if you’re running that play-action pass on first and second down, thatap where you come up with the big plays. And John knows that more than anybody. He’s been in the league for a long time and he knows the type of balance that you need and what type of intangibles you need.”
Player spotlight
Will Parks, S, Broncos
The skinny: The second-year player has worn many hats for the Broncos, as their starting dime backer, backup free safety, key special-teamer and, now with Justin Simmons on injured reserve, starting strong safety.
The background: Parks and Simmons were both drafted in 2016, have adjacent lockers and, for the most part, have been a package deal with their contributions off the field and versatility on the field. The two rose to prominence in the pros with Simmons’ blocked extra point in New Orleans a year ago that Parks scooped up and returned for a defensive conversion.
Parks’ take: “I don’t prefer anything,” he said of his favorite position. “I prefer wherever I’m going to make plays. That’s my position. And right now, I got to get my hands on the ball more. I had my hands on the ball a couple of times this year. Playing different positions — dime position, free safety position, the slot position — this defense is built off versatility, especially when you’re coming in as a safety. You definitely have to know more than one position and I’m just talking about the back-end. I have to know the blitzes that these guys are doing, as well as all phases of special teams. It’s actually something I look forward to week in and week out, just being able to make more plays. Wherever I’m at, it doesn’t really matter to me.”
Vance Joseph’s take: “Will’s been a starter all year for us, so I wasn’t surprised that he can go in a game and operate for us,” the Broncos coach said after the team’s win over the Jets. “It was more at high safety. But he’s repped there all season, so I wasn’t surprised he played well.”
Numbers to Know
142: Rushing yards needed by C.J. Anderson to record his first 1,000-yard rushing season and become the first 1,000-yard rushing season by a Bronco since Knowshon Moreno (1,038) in 2013.
8: Tackles needed by linebacker Brandon Marshall to reach 100 defensive stops for the third time in his career. He would become the first Bronco since Wesley Woodyard in 2012 to record 100 tackles and three sacks in a season.
2.5: Sacks needed by Von Miller (83.5) to move into the NFL’s top 50 in career sacks. He is currently tied for 54th.
3-4: Broncos’ all-time record in games played on Christmas Eve. The last time they won on Christmas Eve was 2006 against Cincinnati (24-23). The last time they won on the road on Christmas Eve was in 1995 at Oakland (31-28).
1: Win needed Sunday by the Broncos for owner Pat Bowlen to pass former Raiders Owner Al Davis for the fifth most regular-season and all-time victories by an NFL owner. Since Bowlen bought the team in 1984 the Broncos have won 327 regular-season wins and 348 overall.
38: Sacks taken by Redskins QB Kirk Cousins this year, fourth-most in the league.
