Turns out I was right and wrong about Diggs
Joe Johnson
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Another week, another Stefon Diggs story. The Former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver is one game/Mahomes-less Chiefs team away from making it to the Super Bowl. If that happens, you’ll be spoon fed story after story about Diggs being right, validated, etc. While I wouldn’t go that far, I have reassessed my anti-Diggs position as I’ve spent the start of the Vikings off-season by holding head coach Mike Zimmer’s feet to the fire.
It would seem very cognitive dissonance of me to write this:
And then write this:
The Case for Firing Zimmer pt. 1: The Offensive Coordinator – Vikings Territory
So, I want to be nuanced here.
First, there’s this amazing article by Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.
https://www.golongtd.com/p/the-perfect-storm-how-stefon-diggs
Which breaks down the Diggs/Vikings/Bills situation in deep, deep detail. The main crux, at least for the sake of this article, is the following:
I’ve said before that Diggs would rather get the receiving title than win a Super Bowl where he had 2 catches for 27 yards. He may end up getting exactly what he wanted, winning a Super Bowl and winning the Super Bowl MVP, but I feel a bit validated by that news.
While every great wide receiver wants to be the guy, it’s obvious that Diggs soured on the Vikings when Kirk Cousins started his Vikings tenure by breaking records with Adam Thielen (courtesy of Diggs’ decoy status).
He’s no one’s decoy.
That having been said, the more I’ve learned about the inner-workings of the Zimmer lead Vikings? The more I also understand why Diggs would want out.
I mean that both from a team building and offensive philosophy perspective as well as Zimmer’s… Let’s call it, er, interpersonal skills. Ironically, a lot of that stemmed from Dunne’s blog a few week’s ago:
https://vikingsterritory.com/2020/general-news/report-things-are-bad-in-zimmerland/amp
As well as my own sourcing from current and former players.
This isn’t me talking out of both sides of my mouth, though. As, despite what the comments below will most likely imply, two things can be right at the same time. Diggs can be a mme, me, MEEEE’ diva and Zimmer can be confusing the terms ‘old school’ with being an unreasonable/unflexible tool.
Most reasonable people in Vikings media are waiting for Diggs to implode in Buffalo. He may go on and on about his love for Josh Allen (and Dunne’s article points out that Diggs and Cousins didn’t mesh because Cousins is … Cousins), but we heard the same thing about Diggs and Thielen.
Had the Colts topped the Bills and Diggs not been the focal point? Or even better, once the Bills draft some semblance of a running back? Diggs won’t get his 1.5 million targets and he’ll throw a fit. That is unless he wins that Super Bowl MVP, which will lead to him taking his mask off, Scooby Doo Style, to prove that he was Antonio Brown all along.
And he would’ve got away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!
I don’t know how to feel about any of this. Diggs was my favorite Viking, and so I am as the super clever Bills fans will call ‘Butthurt’ over this. I also fear that Zimmer’s Zimmer-ing will alienate Justin Jefferson eventually, as he should be getting > 100 grabs a season as he progresses.
So, I don’t know how to feel about this revelation. Turns out my ex-favorite player and the guy who controls my favorite team both… Just aren’t great. As Dunne points out, perhaps any other head coach would’ve sat down with Diggs and fixed this. That isn’t Zimmer. Should it be? Arguably? Yes. We lucked out with Justin Jefferson, but that doesn’t happen very often (especially for the Vikings).
But, I thought it was worth both patting myself on the back while also pointing out that the Vikings were culpable in the Diggs situation. So, it’s the opposite of the Jefferson/Diggs trade. A lose-lose.
Sounds like a good tagline for our new parent brand, UFFda! Sports! Vikings