The Dallas Cowboys lead the NFL with 33 forced turnovers and a lot of that can be credited to cornerback Trevon Diggs. One-third of those takeaways have come at the hands of the second-year Alabama star and his league-leading 11 interceptions. Those picks as well as another 10 pass breakups have led to a Pro Bowl nod as well as glowing praise from former Cowboys greats Everson Walls and Deion Sanders for the second-year star.
Every player, regardless of talent or position, needs guidance once they reach the professional level. Three months before the Cowboys drafted Diggs in 2020, they hired former cornerback Al Harris to be their assistant secondary coach, and Diggs credits him for what he’s learned about playing the cornerback position.
“(Al Harris) basically taught me everything I know as far as playing corner in the NFL, the technique, just how to read the quarterback…He knows exactly what’s going on out there. So taking information from him, picking his brain every day has helped me out a lot,” Diggs said.
Harris is certainly someone Diggs or any young cornerback can learn from. During his 15-year career in the NFL, Harris tallied 21 interceptions and scored three defensive touchdowns. His best stretch was his eight-year stint with the Green Bay Packers from 2003 to 2010. Harris was selected to two Pro Bowls (2007, 2008) and named an all-pro (2007) which led to him being added to the Packers Hall of Fame back in May.
Diggs has been snagging interceptions at an incredible rate with 14 in his first 27 games in the NFL. Harris mentioned earlier this season, Diggs is a rare breed.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Never seen anything like him,” said Harris. “Once all the stars line up where it’s a look, a split, a release, once they line up, he takes off and goes and gets it.”
Unlike most players in the NFL that play cornerback, Diggs hasn’t played the position full-time for very long. He played defensive back and wide receiver in high school and played safety and wide receiver during his freshman year at Alabama in 2016. A season later, Diggs switched to cornerback full-time and it led to first-team All-SEC and third-team all-American honors during his senior season in 2019.
As good as Diggs has been in his young career, Diggs feels he still has plenty to learn.
“I’m still not 100 percent comfortable with (playing cornerback). I’m still learning. I still got a lot of work to do. I don’t know how long it’s gonna take for me to master something,” said Diggs.
Diggs may not be fully comfortable playing the cornerback position but he’s used his background as a wide receiver to become the best ball-hawking defender in the NFL. With the continued guidance of Harris, it’ll be interesting to see how much better Diggs will be in the future.