Alabama Football: Can Trevon Diggs sneak into NFL draft’s first round?
As one of the players who played all four years for Alabama football, Trevon Diggs enters the NFL draft as a potential first-round pick.
Every year, Alabama loses several key players to the NFL draft and this year isn’t any exception. Trevon Diggs, however, is one of the exceptions amongst the other Crimson Tide players who are entering the draft because he has completed all four years of school before declaring for the draft.
Diggs came to the Crimson Tide from Gaithersburg, Md., as a four-star recruit in 2016. In his freshman year, Diggs played offense, defense and special teams. He moved to to the defensive side of the ball the next year and finished his collegiate career as a defensive back.
In his freshman and sophomore years, he posted five and six total tackles, respectively, and tripled the total number of tackles as junior, despite missing half of the season with a broken foot. He finished out his junior year with 20 total tackles along with an interception, six pass deflections and one forced fumble.
As a senior, Diggs nearly doubled his total tackles from the prior year again when he recorded 27 and was credited with 0.5 tackles for loss. He also posted three interceptions, one defensive touchdown, eight pass deflections and two fumble recoveries.
Diggs was chosen as a third-team AP All-American and second-team All-SEC honoree in 2019.
Strengths
Diggs measures in at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, with an arm length of 32 3/4 inches and his hands measure 9 3/8 inches and his physicality is a strength in many aspects. His size and strength have the potential to make him unique against big targets and his length assists his body in becoming a shield against 50/50 balls. He has the fluidity and athleticism to match routes and his foot agility is above average.
Moreover, he possesses receiver instincts and catching talent, he recognizes route jumping opportunities.
Weaknesses
Diggs has the tendency to react before surveying the situation, loses discipline guarding combo routes, and struggles to stay in n phase at times. His long speed can go against him in certain matchups and he has a tendency to tug jerseys when chasing a recovery. He needs to improve on his positioning as an open-field tackler and work on maintaining his position while tracking deep throws. He will have the ability to improve on these weaknesses and continue to grow as a stronger and more disciplined player on the next level.
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Draft Projection
Following the combine, I created a first-round mock and didn’t choose Diggs to go that early. Star Alabama players are known to go in the first round, but there were many players who performed better in the combine which played a big part in my draft picks. Having said all of that, I predict Diggs will go early in the second round.
Projection: Early second round