Cowboys' defender continues to debunk silly narratives about his play
Trevon Diggs dealt with a lot of ridicule going into his third season with the Dallas Cowboys after a few bad reps in training camp, causing him to shut down his Twitter account. The former second-round pick claimed he needed to focus on the task of becoming a better player. So far in 2022, Diggs […]
Trevon Diggs dealt with a lot of ridicule going into his third season with the Dallas Cowboys after a few bad reps in training camp, causing him to shut down his Twitter account. The former second-round pick claimed he needed to focus on the task of becoming a better player.
So far in 2022, Diggs has proven that his trip back to the lab, so to speak, is working wonders. Despite giving up a touchdown to Buccaneers' wide receiver Mike Evans in the Cowboys' season opener, Diggs performed well in coverage with multiple pass breakups. In the two games after, however, Diggs showed his ability to make plays in the most significant moments.
The Cincinnati Bengals had the ball late in the fourth quarter with a chance to break a 17-17 tie. Diggs would have none of it as he made critical open field tackles on back-to-back plays that forced a punt, and the Cowboys won the game on a Brett Maher field goal on the next possession as time expired. Against the New York Giants last week, Diggs recorded his first interception of 2022 with just over a minute left in the game, sealing another win for the Cowboys.
Diggs continued his momentum into Week 4 against the Cowboys division rival the Washington Commanders. Just before halftime, Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz decided to test Diggs deep. Like he's done so many times before, Diggs used his background as a receiver to track to ball beautifully for his second interception of the season, similar to his pick against Washington in 2021.
When Diggs wasn't taking the ball away he was still making key plays against Washington. The Commanders had a 4th and 15 inside the red zone with about eight minutes left, down 12 points. Diggs was all over a corner route in the end zone intended for Terry McLaurin and batted the ball down. Also, with just under three minutes left, Diggs logged a pass break-up again while covering McLaurin on another fourth-down pass.
Diggs only allowed one reception and a passer rating of zero against the Commanders. Back in Week 2 when he faced Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who questioned his technique, Diggs held him to two receptions for 14 yards and followed it up by not giving up a catch and logging three pass breakups against the Giants.
Since he was drafted in 2020, Diggs has logged 16 interceptions and 44 pass breakups, the most in the NFL in each category. That's impressive all by itself, but when factoring in that Diggs only played the cornerback position on a full-time basis for three years before entering the NFL, it takes it up a notch.
No matter how many narratives are out there about Diggs and his inability to cover, he keeps making them look silly week to week with his instincts and elite ball skills. The scary thing is that Diggs isn't fully polished yet as a corner so there's no telling what the ceiling for his talent is if there is one.
Feature image via Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
