Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

NFL Network's Kyle Brandt predicts Vikings' Kirk Cousins as MVP

By Randy Smith | Last updated 9/8/22

Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who faces a make-or-break season with the Minnesota Vikings, has a career .500 record. That didn't stop NFL Network's Kyle Brandt from picking Cousins as the MVP favorite for the 2022 season.

Here's Brandt's explanation:

2022 MVP pick.

I’d like to take this chance to apologize, to ABSOLUTELY NOBODY pic.twitter.com/HFA16AghR8
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) September 7, 2022

Irvin's other NFL Network colleagues, meanwhile, went with safe selections such as Aaron Rodgers and young guns such as Josh Allen and Joe Burrow as MVP favorites.

Cousins--who started his NFL career with Washington--has weapons in Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook and Adam Thielen. But his win-loss record of 59-59-2 is hardly inspiring. In the playoffs, Cousins is 1-1.

Yahoo! Sports' Frank Schwab believes Cousins was a top-10 QB last season, perhaps even higher, and will benefit from a new coach:

Kevin O'Connell is the opposite of Mike Zimmer, an old school coach who didn't seem to like or respect Cousins all that much. O'Connell brings in new ideas, has an offensive background and seems to genuinely want to get the most out of Cousins.

By the end of the season, O'Connell may get plenty from Cousins. But an MVP season? That seems like a stretch.

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