This time last offseason, Dallas Cowboys supporters had high hopes for the secondary. The training camp began with a new face on the border. The Cowboys front staff found a way to acquire a former All-Pro and Defensive Player of the Year in return for a fifth-round draft pick.
That guy was Stephon Gilmore, and he was playing alongside Trevon Diggs, the 2022 NFL interceptions leader (11) and the player with the most interceptions since 2021 (17).
Unfortunately, during a Week 3 practice, Diggs landed awkwardly after leaping with the wide receiver to deflect a pass.
MRI results confirmed a torn ACL, terminating his season just as it had began. That was eleven months ago.
Trevon Diggs has been cleared to practice after nearly a year on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list. Even though he has been cleared, the Cowboys intend to continue the conservative approach, gradually introducing him to team practices.
Diggs was seen over to the side during team practice, focusing on individual drills.
Nobody is happier than Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Passing Game Coordinator Al Harris, who has worked closely with Diggs since he was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Trevon Diggs, under Harris’ direction, has emerged as one of the NFL’s best defensive players. His résumé speaks for itself.
Rookie Growing Pains
Despite missing four games due to injury, Trevon Diggs played 90% of the defensive snaps in his rookie season. He intercepted three passes, demonstrating his potential to affect the game if he puts himself in position to make a play.
Cowboys supporters will be pleased to learn that all three of his interceptions came from the arms of Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks.
Diggs even recorded two interceptions in his first game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Carson Wentz, the Eagles quarterback, tested Diggs twice and suffered the price for those throws.
With Dak Prescott out for the season, the defense needed to step up to support the offense, and Diggs responded.
His third interception came later in the season, in a 37-17 victory over the Eagles at AT&T Stadium, and it was his first, but not the last, interception of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Trevon Diggs’ All-Pro Sophomore Season began better than expected. In a league where the sophomore slump is genuine, he shattered that myth with seven interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) in the first six games.
It resulted in Diggs leading the league in interceptions (11) and the most interceptions in a single season since another Cowboys star, Everson Walls, did the same in 1981.
After seven interceptions in the first six games, Diggs was labeled as a shutdown cornerback.
The number of targets in his direction decreased, but he still managed to grab four interceptions in the remaining ten games. Diggs may not have another season like 2021, but he demonstrated that he was not a player to be tried from the outside.
The Cowboys have not had a cornerback shut down one half of the field since Deion Sanders in the late 1990s.
Back Down to Earth
Trevon Diggs saved his greatest play until his third season, when it was most required. QB Dak Prescott suffered a thumb injury, forcing him to miss the next five games.
Backup quarterback Cooper Rush took over and, with the help of Diggs and the rest of the defense, astonished everyone by going 4-1 in Prescott’s absence.
Diggs and his defensive partners shut down explosive offenses headed by Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford. Two of his three interceptions in the 2022 season happened during this five-game stretch, with the third coming against Detroit in Prescott’s first game back from injury.
He continued to perform effectively despite quarterbacks’ best efforts to avoid his side of the field. In the final nine games, only one team targeted him more than six times in a single game, and that was a pass-happy Jaguars offense that forced OT against the Cowboys.
Trevon Diggs played only two games before being injured last season, and he intercepted a pass while in coverage against the New York Jets.
That was our last view of him on the field, and we hope to see the same version of him once he is fully cleared for team workouts.
