Michigan State Football: Is Kirk Cousins a better NFL QB than Jim Miller?

Is former Michigan State football star Kirk Cousins a fair comparison to Jim Miller at quarterback in the NFL? If Miller played today would they be similar?

On Friday, May 31, I was listening to Couch and the Rube and Doug Warren suggested that Kirk Cousins and Jim Miller were similar, but the former had the benefit of being in a pass-happy NFL.

Graham Couch, the host, agreed with Warren. I do enjoy the show, however, I could not stomach this statement, because it does wreak of revisionists history of Miller.

Miller was a decent quarterback at MSU with a strong arm. His best year in East Lansing was his senior season, tossing nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He never threw more touchdowns than interceptions for the Spartans. He even had the benefit of having a receiver like Muhsin Muhammad.

While Miller is a likable personality and a player I cheered for, but he was not at the level Cousins is. I liked Miller as well as Cousins, but the thought that they were comparable is laughable.

Comparisons are difficult to make, especially in different eras. Miller got his break as a starting quarterback with the Chicago Bears and his best season he threw the pigskin for a little over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. There was a reason the Chicago Bears moved on from him.

Compare this to Cousins who has four straight seasons of over 4,000 yards plus this past season behind a horrendous offensive line still managed to toss 30 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions.

Plus, it’s worth noting that Miller was only able to hit the 60 percent mark once in 1999 when he played in five games and only attempted 174 passes. The argument against Cousins is based on his huge contract, however, a team’s success is not dependent upon only the quarterback.

Also, Cousins has a leadership quality that is rare among quarterbacks. Often he would will the Spartans to victory as he did against Georgia in the Outback Bowl or the Hail Marry play against Wisconsin.

There’s a reason he was able to beat out Nick Foles for the starting job. The problem with comparisons is that it is typically based in opinion and it is easy to forget just how good or not a player was. We remember only what we choose to about a player.

Cousins still has much to prove in Minnesota, however. The Vikings can fix their issues with the offensive line then they could make a playoff push. A playoff berth and win could be enough to finally silence his critics. Then he can say again, “You like that!?”