There isn’t a cornerback playing better football in the NFL than Trevon Diggs. After showing flashes of being a big-time player as a rookie last season by leading the team in interceptions and passes defended despite missing four games, Diggs is on an unbelievable roll in 2021.
The Carolina Panthers came into town this past Sunday with an undefeated record and the league’s top-ranked defense. While the offense of the Dallas Cowboys took the Panthers’ defense to the woodshed, Diggs put on a show by logging two interceptions. By doing so, he became the 16th player in NFL history to start a season with an interception in each of the first four games.
Diggs leads the NFL with five interceptions and is the only player to log an interception in every game so far. This season has been a continuation of how he ended his 2020 campaign. He now has an interception in five of his last six games and his eight career interceptions have come in his last nine games.
The former second-round pick put his name in the Cowboys record books as well against the Panthers. Diggs became the fourth player in team history to record an interception in four consecutive games (Dennis Thurman, Michael Downs, Charlie Walters). Also, he is the second player in team history to amass five interceptions in the first four games (Chuck Howley, 1968) which also made him the 17th player since the NFL merger to intercept that many passes through the first four games.
Diggs has lined up against some top-notch competition at the wide receiver position in 2021, and he’s responded well. In Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he held three-time Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans to one reception for 10 yards on three targets. The next week, going up against Keenan Allen of the Los Angeles Chargers, Diggs only allowed three receptions on six targets. He was even better against DeVonta Smith of the Philadelphia Eagles as he was held to two receptions for nine yards against Diggs.
DJ Moore of the Panthers had 113 yards on eight receptions but his two touchdowns came with Diggs on the sideline in the fourth quarter due to back tightness.
Five interceptions in four games is an unbelievable pace. That’s more than most defensive backs get in a career. However, Diggs isn’t satisfied and wants to reach an even higher plateau.
“I need more,” Diggs said.
“I feel like I still have work to do. I haven’t reached what I wanted to reach, I haven’t accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, so I feel like I’ve still got work to do.”
Not many cornerbacks get to go up against the kind of competition Diggs does in Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb daily in practice and a quarterback like Dak Prescott. The Cowboys QB1 mentioned recently how there are certain routes that Diggs is a nightmare to throw against.
“I go back to last year’s training camp when he picked me off on back-to-back two-minute drills,” Prescott said. “I knew then that there are certain routes and certain concepts that you’ve got to know where he is, and you’ve got to know his position.”
The Cowboys record for interceptions is 11 by Everson Walls in 1981. Diggs has a long way to go this season but he’s on a pace right now when it comes to intercepting the football that is extraordinary.
