What's helped Cowboys' Trevon Diggs turn into one of the NFL's most efficient cornerbacks?
Trevon Diggs is excelling in his role as cornerback with the Dallas Cowboys. He pretty much leads the field in every category when it comes to statistics.
He has not allowed a single touchdown, which is tied for first in the league. He has five interceptions already, the single highest in the league. His target EPA (Expected Points Added) is a negative 24.8, which is also the best in the league.
Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs leads the NFL in the following coverage metrics through the first four weeks of the season entering Sunday Night Football:
🥇 Interceptions (5)
🥇 Ball Hawk Rate (32.0%)
🥇 Target EPA (-24.8)
#CARvsDAL | #DallasCowboys https://t.co/56fS5cIxDu
Some Dallas fans are already christening Trevon Diggs as the best cornerback they have had since Deion Sanders, and there may be truth to it if Trevon Diggs can maintain this form. But this begs the question: how did Trevon Diggs get so good in the first place? How does he know exactly how a wide receiver might react? It has to do with his history as a football player.
Trevon Diggs' journey from a wide receiver to a cornerback
Trevon Diggs played wide receiver until his sophomore year in college. He excelled on both sides of the ball, and on special teams, and could have followed in his brother Stefon Diggs' path and chosen to become wide receiver. But he settled into being a cornerback and now he is taking the NFL by storm.
One of the reasons Trevon Diggs is so good against opposing wide receivers is because he played as one himself. He knows exactly what the wide receiver is thinking and how the quarterback might try to target him.
This is something other cornerbacks have to learn. Cornerbacks need to spend hours watching tapes of opposition players to figure out how they must react in coverage. But for someone who has been a wide receiver, Trevon Diggs instinctively knows what to do in any situation. This is the secret sauce to Trevon Diggs's explosive stats this season.
Alabama corner Trevon Diggs converted from wide receiver to CB, here’s how that helped him. You can see on tape how he has a good feel for offensive game plans and route combinations. #NFLCombine https://t.co/Jy1ShIcAJS
But lest it be overlooked in this discussion, as a new cornerback, Trevon Diggs has mastered the basics of the position very well. While he benefits from instinct in shutting down the offense, he has had a steeper learning curve than others who have been playing in the cornerback position much longer.
The other reason he has been successful: much like other successful people, he works harder than others. If Trevon Diggs continues to work hard and keeps using his offensive insights on defense, he will surely become one of the greatest cornerbacks of all time. Not just in Dallas, but in the league.
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