Maybe it was in the heat of the moment, excitement, or euphoria caused by Trevon Diggs snatching his sixth interception of the season in just five games played.
When Michael Irvin called Diggs’ last interception “Deion Sanders-like” it was the height of hyperbole.
Comparing a guy who’s having a career year this season to the greatest shutdown corner to ever live is a reach. Especially when Diggs was getting toasted last season. He’s improved tremendously but not enough to be compared to the GOAT cornerback.
TREVON DIGGS DOES IT AGAIN.
SIX INTS IN FIVE GAMES.
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/wxyjVT3wkG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 10, 2021
Irvin loves to hype up anything the Cowboys do, as they haven’t had much to cheer about since his playing days. Irvin also stated on his weekly appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” that he believed the Cowboys were the best team in the NFL because of “balance.”
“Right now, the Dallas Cowboys are the best team in the NFL,” Irving said. “They’re playing the best football in the National Football League right now.”
That’s extremely debatable, and a real homer statement by a guy who last November said this was the worst team in the league. How can 11 months change the perception of a team so drastically? How about just letting the team continue to improve before anointing them.
As far as Diggs goes, he’s accumulating a lot of picks by gambling and making plays on the ball, but he’s also giving up chunk plays.
Guess Irvin wasn’t watching Giants rookie wideout Kadarius Toney torched Diggs for just about all of his career-high 189 receiving yards Sunday on 11 receptions. About 8 of those came on Diggs. Yes he made the pick but Toney had his way against him.,
Kadarius Toney put the moves on Trevon Diggs 👀
pic.twitter.com/akh70NWrY3— PFF (@PFF) October 10, 2021
Diggs is a feel-good story for the Cowboys, who’ve improved drastically on the defensive side of the ball under first-year defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
DQ is playing a lot of the cover 3 scheme he made so popular with the “Legion of Boom” during his time as DC of the Seattle Seahawks.
The scheme is designed to give corners help over the top from the safeties, allowing them to take risks and jump route,s and it just so happens that right now Diggs is guessing right. Diggs is really thriving in this scheme, as it fits his elite ball skills.
Those ball skills were almost never realized on the defensive side of the football, as Diggs — the younger brother of Buffalo Bills All-Pro wideout Stefon Diggs — was recruited to Alabama to play WR for Nick Saban.
But with guys like Jerry Jeudy (Broncos), Henry Ruggs III (Raiders), DeVonta Smith (Heisman Trophy Winner/Eagles) and Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins) in front of him, he wasn’t going to see the light of day at WR until they all left Tuscaloosa.
Saban told Diggs that his future is at cornerback. Diggs said he cried when the move was made.
Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs was hurt at first when Nick Saban wanted to move him from WR to CB at Alabama. Diggs was in tears. He now thanks Saban for making that move pic.twitter.com/hDCJ5fJlE4
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 11, 2021
Coach Saban had this to say about the move that has Diggs currently playing at an All-Pro level.
“First off, he was a really good receiver. “A lot of times, guys have a vision of what they’d like to be. But because of his skill set, he has great ball skills, really good hands, long, very athletic, I just thought the guy would be a very good corner and there would be more for his future if he was a corner.”
Diggs is having a great year statistically, as we live in an era where only stats which are obvious to the untrained eye are considered when determining a player’s value.
Trevon Diggs now has more interceptions than Deion Sanders had in his first 2 seasons
— America’s Team (@RoadToSix) October 10, 2021
Irvin is a walking billboard for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, but he has to temper his hometown enthusiasm, especially when it comes to comparing someone to the great Deion Sanders.
