Could the big Alabama product be an option for the Broncos?

One prospect who may interest the Denver Broncos in the first two rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft is Alabama cornerback, Trevon Diggs. He is a 6’1”, 205 pound cornerback who was a big part of Alabama’s dominance on defense during his time with the program. Diggs is ranked as the sixth-best cornerback in the 2020 NFL Draft according to The Draft Network and ranked as their 45th best prospect in the entire draft.

Trevon Diggs played a total of four season at Alabama and really broke out this past year for the Crimson Tide. During his four-year career, Diggs totaled 68 tackles, 0.5 tackles for a loss, 4 interceptions, 1 defensive touchdown, 17 pass deflections, and 2 forced fumbles. This past season, Diggs totaled 37 tackles, 0.5 tackles for a loss, 3 interceptions, 1 defensive touchdown, 8 pass deflections and 2 fumble recoveries.

Here are Trevon Diggs 2019 accolades from his player profile on Alabama’s official website.

• Selected as a first team All-American by Pro Football Focus
• Tabbed a second team All-American by the AFCA and The Sporting News
• Third team All-America selection by the Associated Press
• Earned All-SEC first team recognition from the Associated Press
• Selected as second team All-SEC honoree by the league coaches
• Tied for the team lead in pass breakups with eight
• Allowed a passer rating of just 44.5 when he was targeted, according to Pro Football Focus
• Totaled 37 tackles, including half a stop for loss (-1 yard) to go with three interceptions to tie for second on the team as a senior
• Tallied 79 yards on his picks, including an 84-yard pick-six against Arkansas ...
• Also scooped up two fumbles and accounted for a score and 100-plus combined return yards
• Named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
• Selected as one of the defensive players of the week by the Alabama coaching staff for his efforts against New Mexico State, South Carolina and Mississippi State.

Diggs enters the 2020 NFL Draft as one of the top corners of this class and is expected to be selected in either the first-round or the early to mid second-round.

Trevon Diggs

Cornerback | Senior | Alabama

Height: 6’1” | Weight: 203 poinds

Arm Length: 32 3/4” | Hands: 9 3/8”

*Did not participate in the athletic timing drills at the NFL Combine and Alabama’s Pro Day was cancelled because of Covid-19.

Film Room

Scouting Report

Strengths

• Has the elite length, size, and wingspan you want from an NFL corner
• Athletic corner with that twitch you always look for in defensive backs
• Smooth athlete with fluid hips which allows him to flip his hips without any issues
• Ball skills are evident
• He doesn’t have a high number of interceptions, but his ability to play the ball in the air and swat it/deflect it are evident
• Good enough speed to hang with the faster receivers
• Very physical corner and shows his excellent strength in the press game
• His game is as a press corner in the NFL
• Solid in zone and man coverage which makes him scheme diverse
• Plays with excellent strength and rarely is out-physicaled by a wide receiver
• Has kick and punt return experience and was reasonably successful at it
• Has shown to be dangerous when the ball is in his hands with multiple long defensive touchdowns
• Very raw and has a high upside
• Bloodlines are there. His brother is Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Stefon Diggs

Weaknesses

• Needs to clean up his technique to reach his potential
• Will need to land on a team with a good defensive staff to clean up his game
• Tackling is a bit disappointing, especially with his size and strength
• His tackling technique is a bit sloppy and at times he’s over aggressive
• Iffy in off-man coverage and will best used as a press coverage corner
• I noticed he can be a little grabby as well which goes back to sloppy technique
• Really just needs to clean up his game but the potential is there

What other analysts are saying about Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs

NFL Network’s lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah on Alabama Cornerback Trevon Diggs.

Diggs has elite size, athleticism and ball skills. (He also played wide receiver and returned kicks during his career at Alabama.) He uses an effective one-hand jam in press before opening up and staying on the hip. He’s fluid for such a big cornerback. It’s important for him to stay in phase with the wideout because he lacks elite recovery speed. From off coverage, he reads through the wide receiver to the quarterback and has a good feel for jumping routes and making plays. His ball skills are outstanding — as you’d expect, considering his brother is Stefon Diggs. He does need to improve as a tackler in space. Overall, Diggs has some room to develop, but he will excite teams looking for a big cornerback to match up with guys like Mike Evans and Courtland Sutton.

The Draft Network’s Kyle Crabbs on Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs.

Trevon Diggs fits the profile of a Cover 3/press man cornerback at the next level. Diggs’ length makes him an ideal player to play press at the line of scrimmage and put him in positions to physically challenge receivers to stack the edge in run support. Diggs’ lack of consistency in run support is frustrating and he can be hit or miss locating the football; so the perfect system is one that requires him to play bail technique and operate primarily in a deep third as a perimeter CB.

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler on Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs from his annual draft guide.

A two-year starter at Alabama, Diggs lined up primarily at left cornerback in Nick Saban’s press-man heavy scheme, occasionally seeing snaps vs. the slot. He was better known as Stefon Diggs’ younger brother growing up, but he grew out of his shadow and carved his own path, playing his college ball at Alabama instead of Maryland and changing his number (wears No. 7 due to Tyrann Mathieu). Diggs arrived in Tuscaloosa as a two-way player and his offensive background benefits him on defense with his ball skills and awareness for what the offense is trying to do. He will drive his NFL defensive coaches crazy with his hopping around and sporadic technique, but his read/react skills and athleticism allow him to get away with it. Overall, Diggs needs to clean up his technique and discipline in coverage to reach his full potential, but he has shown improvement in those areas and projects as an NFL starter due to his size, twitch and competitive nature.

Does Trevon Diggs make sense for the Denver Broncos in the 2020 NFL Draft?

I love his upside and he’s a pretty solid schematic fit.

I know I listed his tackling as a weakness and Fangio stated he wants corners who can tackle, but finding capable tackling corners coming out of college isn’t super common. Diggs has the physicality, strength, and play style to improve in this area with coaching. I think the Broncos have the staff who can bring that element of his game out of him in the NFL.

I expect there to be some growing pains with Diggs early on because of his technique, over-aggressive nature and just the learning curve/general rookie growing pains. However, if he can land with a solid defensive staff, I think they can turn him into a very good NFL cornerback sooner rather than later.

I love press corners and this is a type of corner the Broncos are lacking and I think he can compete for snaps on day one if drafted by the Broncos.

Now, his draft range is all over the place. Some mocks have him going as high as the Cowboys 17th overall selection while draft boards list him in the mid to late 40’s so he’s one of many prospects who fit in that mid-first round to early to mid-second-round value. Hard to narrow it down much more than that.

I don’t think the Broncos would consider him at 15th overall, but if he was available at 46th overall and they did not address cornerback before that, I think he would be high on their board.

I like a lot of the day two corners and Diggs is near the top of that list for me. What do you think Broncos Country?