Cousins drafted in the fourth round by Washington
When the Washington Redskins drafted Robert Griffin III with the No. 2 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft -- by trading plenty of future draft picks to do so -- it appeared the Redskins were drafting quarterbacks.
As it turned out, they had other plans. With Kirk Cousins still on the board, the Redskins plucked Cousins with the sixth pick (102 overall) of the fourth round Saturday.
"It is a little surprising .. Coach (Mike) Shanahan's words to me were that he couldn't pass me up," Cousins said in a teleconference.
Cousins enters somewhat of a quarterback controversy now, with the pick of RG III and incumbent Rex Grossman sitting as the likely backup. In other words, it makes no sense.
"Robert Griffin, there's a lot of hope in him being the future. I'm just excited to be a part of [the team]," Cousins said.
Entering the draft's second day, ESPN's Trent Dilfer said "Cousins is the most refined of the quarterbacks left, a lot like Andrew Luck, a guy that ran a sophisticated offense in college."
Yet he fell through Friday's second and third rounds and into the fourth round, where the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs seemed the likely destinations. The Bills were among the teams that worked out Cousins, while the Chiefs had shown interest, and are looking for a backup in the draft.
He was the eighth quarterback selected, as Andrew Luck (1),Griffin III (2), Ryan Tannehill (8) Brandon Weeden (22), Brock Osweiler (57), Russell Wilson (75) and Nick Foles (88) came off the board before Cousins.
The pick of Foles by the Philadelphia Eagles came as somewhat of a shocker, given that Cousins said he had spent more time with Philadelphia's quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson than any other coach.
Cousins was rated as the fourth best prospect by Draft Countdown entering Saturday's late rounds, and was sixth on NFL Network's ratings.
He threw for 9,131 yards and 66 touchdowns at Michigan State. Cousins was named All-Big Ten second team by the coaches in 2011 and won the Lowe's Senior Class Award.
