Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs works on his footwork at practice on June 9, 2022, in Frisco, Texas.(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs caught 11 passes for 88 yards and one touchdown as a freshman at Alabama in 2016. Could he give the Cowboys’ undermanned wide-receiver corps a boost in training camp?
“Of course, he could,” Dan Quinn said, but the Dallas defensive coordinator isn’t going to let him.
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During the offseason, the Cowboys traded former Alabama All-American Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns and lost Cedrick Wilson Jr. in free agency. Dallas still has Pro Bowler CeeDee Lamb, but with its next two wide receivers in 2021 receptions gone and former 1,000-yard receiver Michael Gallup still recovering from a torn ACL, the Cowboys drafted South Alabama wide receiver Jalen Tolbert in the third round and signed Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver James Washington in free agency.
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But at training camp on Monday, Washington fractured his foot, and the other eight wide receivers on Dallas’ roster combined for 16 NFL receptions last season (all by Noah Brown).
“I would imagine there’s certain routes that he would be exceptional at,” Quinn said of Diggs during an appearance on “The Doomsday Podcast” this week. “He did it in major-college football early in his career before he moved over, so I would say, ‘Yes, he could. But, no, he can’t.’ Yes he could, but no he won’t. How about that?”
Diggs earned first-team All-Pro recognition in the 2021 season, when he intercepted 11 passes, the highest total in the NFL in 40 years.
“I think he has the ability to track the ball running full speed,” Quinn said, “and just catch the tip or the flash of a ball and be able to backhand this way, because he has excellent length. But there are a lot of people who have 33-inch arms. It’s his ball skills in the air that are the separator to me. When it’s in the air: ‘That’s mine.’ It’s not: ‘I’m coming trying to knock it down. That was in the air for me.’ And he wants to go get it.”
Quinn said Diggs could be better in 2022. Although Diggs held opposing passers to a 55.8 rating in 2021, he gave up 907 passing yards and four touchdowns last season.
“We talk about the 1 to 2 jump,” Quinn said. “I think he can also be one who has a 2 to 3 jump – Year 2 to Year 3. You can’t gauge him on just the interceptions. That’s not the only way, that I would say, he had a successful year. There’s going to be other metrics that are going to come into play for that.”
Only two players have intercepted at least 10 passes in consecutive seasons in NFL history – Don Doll in 1949 and 1950 for the Detroit Lions and Tom Keane in 1952 for the Dallas Texans and 1953 for the Baltimore Colts.
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Cowboys secondary coach Al Harris said that’s a feat that Diggs could accomplish in 2022.
“I’ve seen it before,” Harris said on Friday. “Not 11, but I got a chance to coach Marcus Peters, so I seen ball guys. First day Tre stepped on campus, you could see the potential there. …
“You go into the year, you set your goals high and you just knock your goals down. Can he have a year like that? I honestly believe he can, so sky’s the limit.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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