Minnesota, Receivers Can Avoid Trevon Diggs
Dallas Cowboys corner Trevon Diggs has been getting a lot of love this season. Stefon’s younger brother has more catches than a lot of NFL receivers; through six games, he has 7 interceptions. It’s an eye-popping number, especially when you see that he also has two touchdowns. It’s even more impressive that he has at least one interception in every game this season. Diggs, quite evidently, is a little like his older brother: they’re both play makers. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that Minnesota can avoid Trevon Diggs on Sunday.
For starters, Minnesota needs to remember that they have two elite receivers. For a few games at the beginning of the year, it appeared as though Klint Kubiak forgot that reality. Justin Jefferson was getting plenty of looks, but Adam Thielen was somewhat of an afterthought. That can’t continue. Thankfully, Thielen was much more involved in Week 6 game plan.
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Now, things can get even easier for the Vikings upon considering where Diggs lines up. According to Pro Football Focus, Diggs has only lined up in the slot 39 times. He has been along the outside for 297 snaps. The sophomore, quite evidently, does better along the outside. It’s also worth noting that his run score on PFF is a meager 29.9. That’s dead last in the NFL among corners.
So, where does that leave our Vikings? It means they can likely get one of their star receivers off of Diggs simply by keeping them in the slot. It also means that runs toward Diggs are likely to have some success. Perhaps Dallas will tell Diggs to follow Jefferson or Thielen on pre-snap motion. If that is the case, consider bringing Diggs into the slot, a spot where he seems less comfortable. If it ends up being a run to his side, even better.
Our defense is going to have their hands full against a talented Dallas offense. The best way to completely nullify a strong offense is to ensure they never leave the sideline. We can do that by putting together methodical, ball-control drives. Plenty of runs for Cook & Mattison alongside plenty of short passes to our slot receivers could do the trick.
Of course, football is far more complicated than what your humble author is saying. The Cowboys certainly understand what Diggs does well and not so well. Be that as it may, the point remains that our Vikings will have some options out there.
Sunday’s Vikings game is sure to be a stressful one. We haven’t really had an easy game yet, unless you count our Week 3 win against the Seahawks as being easy. The Vikings will likely find themselves in yet another difficult game.
All I’m saying is that Minnesota can make things less stressful if they decide to avoid Trevon Diggs. If/when Minnesota targets Diggs, let’s make sure we’re doing it on our own terms. Let’s bring him into the slot to see if he can hang with Jefferson and Thielen along the inside.