National media can't make mind up about Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs
By Lee Vowell
Quandre Diggs has been one of the best safeties in the NFL since joining the Seattle Seahawks. But reactions to him are a mixed bag for whatever reason, at least from the national media. Maybe it's because Seattle plays in the Pacific Northwest and people don't pay enough attention to the team. Either way, Diggs should clearly be considered one of the best safeties in football.
Touchdown Wire, an outlet for USA Today, recently ranked NFL safeties and Diggs was ranked at number two overall. The biggest reason for this, according to Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, is that Diggs is capable of playing deep safety as well as, if not better than anyone in the league. 5 interceptions when targeted 21 times? Yep, that's great production.
Diggs can also play the run well, too. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Diggs graded out at 76.4 in coverage in 2022. That's a very good number. But he had a solid 66.5 run defense grade. In 2021, Diggs had a coverage grade of 72.3 and a run defense grade of 70.4.
Seahawks Quandre Diggs is clearly one of the best safeties in the NFL
My point is that Quandre Diggs doesn't just play the deep end of the field well and nothing else. While he isn't Earl-Thomas-in-his-prime good (few players ever have been), Diggs is arguably as good as any free safety in the NFL right now. Seattle is lucky to have him and he is an excellent comminicator both on and off the field as well.
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This makes it all the more confusing about why FanSided's Nick Villano (admittedly, one of our own as 12th Man Rising is part of the FanSided group of sites) says Diggs could potentially be a surprise roster cut before Week 1 because 1) Diggs has been "been dealing with injuries for the past few offseasons" (wrong and really just 2022), 2) Diggs' "play dropped" (again, wrong; Diggs made the Pro Bowl in 2022 just as he had the previous two seasons with the Seahawks), and 3) Jamal Adams would be more expensive to cut than Diggs (wrong as Diggs would actually be just as expensive than Adams to release).
Next. 3 recently added Seahawks who could already be cut candidates. 3 recently added Seahawks who could already be cut candidates. dark
No offense to Villano but I wonder if he just accidentally chose the wrong player. He could have gone with Adams instead of Diggs. Because Diggs is a leader on an otherwise young Seahawks team and is excellent on the field. Not only will Seattle not release Diggs, he will likely make another Pro Bowl in 2023.