Active NFL All Pro starts Trevon Diggs Defensive Player of the Year campaign

First, the story was about Trevon Diggs’ hot start to the season, after he tallied an interception in each of the first few games.

Five games and six interceptions later, the question seems to be whether Diggs, the Dallas Cowboys second-year cornerback, is having a hot start — or if this is just the interception output fans can expect from the Alabama product. Even the very players against whom he competes on a weekly basis have taken note, some even expressing downright shock with the production level he has maintained through five weeks. And his latest supporter, three-time NFL first team All-Pro Richard Sherman, started a campaign for Diggs to win a huge postseason award, despite the two playing the same position.

“Bro @TrevonDiggs is Defensive Player of the Year right now,” Sherman, who recently made his debut with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said Sunday after Diggs had another interception. “Keep eating!”

Diggs has logged an interception in all five of the Cowboys’ games this year, including two last week. And this past Sunday was no exception; his sixth pickoff of the year came against the New York Giants on first-and-10. Quarterback Mike Glennon, filling in for an injured Daniel Jones, dropped and let it fly from the Giants’ own 25-yard line.

Well beyond midfield, approaching the Cowboys’ own 30-yard line, Diggs managed to fend off the nearby Giants receiver using only his positioning, before leaping up and reeling the ball in full-extension fashion.

The 2020 second-round pick out of Alabama was named September’s NFC Defensive Player of the Month just two weeks ago, and opposing quarterbacks are still throwing his way. It took Diggs just three games to tally as many interceptions as he did during his entire rookie season, and he doesn’t look to be slowing down.

With today’s interception, Diggs’ NFL-leading sixth pick, he joined the Cowboys’ record books and became the second player in franchise history to record an interception in each of the Cowboys’ first five games, joining only Don Bishop in 1961.

Star wide receiver Amari Cooper, who practices against Diggs every day, praised the young defensive back for his competitive nature.

“I’ve been telling people about Diggs. I go against him, so I would know. Even if I win the rep, you can tell just by the competitiveness of the guy. If he does get beat in practice, he’s always right there,” Cooper said amidst Diggs’ interception streak. “He’s a ballhawk. He’s legit for sure.”

So far, Diggs has lived up to Cooper’s word. Opposing quarterbacks this season have a passer rating well below 40 when targeting Diggs. That number will most certainly plummet after Sunday’s performance, as the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Month notched his sixth interception of the season.

“We always knew Tre was a dog. Me personally, I did, coming in together and seeing him at Bama. I understand what was going on, I knew that Tre was a Pro Bowler or just an All-Pro DB. I look at him as that,” star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said of Diggs, echoing Cooper’s thoughts.