Diggs - slightly overrated?

[jwb32]

Stefon Diggs' ADP has now crept into end of round 2. I love the talent, but for some reason, I cannot reconcile his dynasty value with his production to date. 2018 was his first 1000 yard season of his four year career. But he only surpassed that arbitrary threshold by 21 yards. Brandin Cooks has easily surpassed 1000 yards 4 straight years, yet Diggs is going nearly a full round earlier. Over the final 6 weeks of the season when owners needed him most, Diggs failed to surpass 50 yards 4 times with a just 70 yards in the other 2 games. What is it about his career to date that warrants this value? As an owner, I feel like now is a decent time to sell high. Can someone talk me out of it?

[Jigga94]

I have Cooks over Diggs, but Cooks is undervalued. I think they belong in the same tier though. Both very good young WR. Cooper is in that conversation too. Who do you like more to take the next step?

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

Diggs has always been overvalued and touted to be "the next Antonio Brown". He's more of a Golden Tate+ in my opinion. Cooks > Diggs easily for me even though SBLIII exposed Cooks's inability to win contested catches.

[saw061600]

Diggs has always been overvalued and touted to be "the next Antonio Brown". He's more of a Golden Tate+ in my opinion. Cooks > Diggs easily for me even though SBLIII exposed Cooks's inability to win contested catches.

Mostly agree, except for the "exposed inability to win contested catches" part. I saw more of a Goff inability to throw to his receiver in tight windows; or even throw on time to his receivers.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

Diggs has always been overvalued and touted to be "the next Antonio Brown". He's more of a Golden Tate+ in my opinion. Cooks > Diggs easily for me even though SBLIII exposed Cooks's inability to win contested catches.

Mostly agree, except for the "exposed inability to win contested catches" part. I saw more of a Goff inability to throw to his receiver in tight windows; or even throw on time to his receivers.

Cooks is a great WR, but he dropped two TDs. The over-the-shoulder one was a perfect throw by Goff. The wide-open one by the goal post was a late throw from Goff, but Cooks had it and allowed the defender to knock his arm away. Maybe it was SB nerves, but while Goff is partly to blame on one, those were on Cooks. The general rule of thumb is "if your fingers touch the ball, you gotta catch it".

[ColdZealDonkeyStrike]

Cooks is a great WR, but he dropped two TDs. The over-the-shoulder one was a perfect throw by Goff. The wide-open one by the goal post was a late throw from Goff, but Cooks had it and allowed the defender to knock his arm away. Maybe it was SB nerves, but while Goff is partly to blame on one, those were on Cooks. The general rule of thumb is "if your fingers touch the ball, you gotta catch it".

I don't think you can put either of those on Cooks. The first pass arrived just after the defender did. The 2nd one he had Gilmore holding down one of his arms (which was a great subtle move by Gilmore, btw). They both *could* have been caught, but either would be an uncommon catch and definitely shouldn't be considered drops. I would agree that at the catch point is not one of his strengths, but he's made plenty of contested catches before (like the NFCCG where he caught it while being pulled down by the facemask).

I like Diggs, and agree he should be right with Cooks (I have Cooks a hair higher). They're both fringe top 10 for me in dynasty rankings. The main thing about Diggs is... 149 targets last year. And if you watch the games, there were a LOT of near misses with him and Cousins that could get cleaned up in year 2. He's shown the ability to get open, and he's now had a season where he had the target volume necessary to really blow up.

[BigBawseRoss]

the thing that worried me about late season vikings was the plan changed wildly and they went run heavy and dalvin was a beast while thielen and diggs were duds. if that continues in 2019 im not nearly as high on those two WRs. the gameplan was night and day early season vs late season.

cooks is consistent and i like that

[FantasyFoosball]

I’m pretty low on Diggs. I think he’s overvalued for sure.

[Gator Sens]

I think he is slightly overvalued from a trade standpoint. His health has been an issue at times too. Definitely have Cooks over Diggs.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

Cooks is a great WR, but he dropped two TDs. The over-the-shoulder one was a perfect throw by Goff. The wide-open one by the goal post was a late throw from Goff, but Cooks had it and allowed the defender to knock his arm away. Maybe it was SB nerves, but while Goff is partly to blame on one, those were on Cooks. The general rule of thumb is "if your fingers touch the ball, you gotta catch it".

I don't think you can put either of those on Cooks. The first pass arrived just after the defender did. The 2nd one he had Gilmore holding down one of his arms (which was a great subtle move by Gilmore, btw). They both *could* have been caught, but either would be an uncommon catch and definitely shouldn't be considered drops. I would agree that at the catch point is not one of his strengths, but he's made plenty of contested catches before (like the NFCCG where he caught it while being pulled down by the facemask).

On the first, Gilmore had a hand on his arm, but it looks like Cooks just misjudged where the ball was. It's not a "drop", but I maintain that he absolutely could've caught that despite tight coverage by Gilmore. On the second, it was Jason McCourty, not Gilmore, that broke up the catch. But again, while the throw was late, Cooks had the ball in his hands. It's a tougher catch, but make-able despite the great defensive play.

I'll repeat, Cooks is a great WR in terms of speed and route-running, but he isn't great at contested catches where the defender is in tight coverage despite having made some before. That's not to say that those two catches would've been easy to make, only that a WR who's better at contested catches could've scored in both instances.

Sorry for the sidebar. Back to the Diggs discussion lol.

[hudini33]

First off, I agree with Ditka that Cooks is not very good at contested catches. Hes shown that his entire career. Hes so consistent because his route running and athleticism make it so he doesnt have to catch too many contested catches.

As for what warrants Diggs being drafted earlier, I think it's the upside. While Cooks will give you extremely consistent numbers, his lack of talent with contested catches limits his ceiling. Diggs on the other hand has shown that he can maneuver his smaller frame to make those catches. His issue is injuries, he cant stay on the field for a full season. That and in MN (I'm a vikes fan) the o line is horrendous. That's why Theilen was getting more targets, he ran shorter and quicker routes. When cousins had time, like when they went run heavy to limit the pass rush, Diggs was the guy. If he can put it all together, I believe that his ceiling is higher (Not AB level, but a step below).

I have them back to back in my rankings so a straight swap would be fair. I dont think Diggs is overrated, but I do think Cooks is underrated.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

First off, I agree with Ditka that Cooks is not very good at contested catches. Hes shown that his entire career. Hes so consistent because his route running and athleticism make it so he doesnt have to catch too many contested catches.

As for what warrants Diggs being drafted earlier, I think it's the upside. While Cooks will give you extremely consistent numbers, his lack of talent with contested catches limits his ceiling. Diggs on the other hand has shown that he can maneuver his smaller frame to make those catches. His issue is injuries, he cant stay on the field for a full season. That and in MN (I'm a vikes fan) the o line is horrendous. That's why Theilen was getting more targets, he ran shorter and quicker routes. When cousins had time, like when they went run heavy to limit the pass rush, Diggs was the guy. If he can put it all together, I believe that his ceiling is higher (Not AB level, but a step below).

I have them back to back in my rankings so a straight swap would be fair. I dont think Diggs is overrated, but I do think Cooks is underrated.

I like everything about this post lol. What it comes down to for me is the fact that Diggs is constantly nicked up with minor injuries, particularly of the groin and soft tissue variety. Diggs has yet to play a full season, and even if he's only missing a few games, the other 3-4 games per season where he's active but clearly not 100% are really limiting his production. On the other hand, Cooks is a similar talent but has yet to miss a single game in his NFL career *knock on wood*.

[Jigga94]

First off, I agree with Ditka that Cooks is not very good at contested catches. Hes shown that his entire career. Hes so consistent because his route running and athleticism make it so he doesnt have to catch too many contested catches.

As for what warrants Diggs being drafted earlier, I think it's the upside. While Cooks will give you extremely consistent numbers, his lack of talent with contested catches limits his ceiling. Diggs on the other hand has shown that he can maneuver his smaller frame to make those catches. His issue is injuries, he cant stay on the field for a full season. That and in MN (I'm a vikes fan) the o line is horrendous. That's why Theilen was getting more targets, he ran shorter and quicker routes. When cousins had time, like when they went run heavy to limit the pass rush, Diggs was the guy. If he can put it all together, I believe that his ceiling is higher (Not AB level, but a step below).

I have them back to back in my rankings so a straight swap would be fair. I dont think Diggs is overrated, but I do think Cooks is underrated.

I like everything about this post lol. What it comes down to for me is the fact that Diggs is constantly nicked up with minor injuries, particularly of the groin and soft tissue variety. Diggs has yet to play a full season, and even if he's only missing a few games, the other 3-4 games per season where he's active but clearly not 100% are really limiting his production. On the other hand, Cooks is a similar talent but has yet to miss a single game in his NFL career *knock on wood*.

I'm the biggest Cooks supporter here. He did miss 6 games his rookie season. Other than that, this seasons concussion was the only other time he's truly missed.

Still more reliable than Diggs which is the point

[ColdZealDonkeyStrike]

On the first, Gilmore had a hand on his arm, but it looks like Cooks just misjudged where the ball was. It's not a "drop", but I maintain that he absolutely could've caught that despite tight coverage by Gilmore. On the second, it was Jason McCourty, not Gilmore, that broke up the catch. But again, while the throw was late, Cooks had the ball in his hands. It's a tougher catch, but make-able despite the great defensive play.

I'll repeat, Cooks is a great WR in terms of speed and route-running, but he isn't great at contested catches where the defender is in tight coverage despite having made some before. That's not to say that those two catches would've been easy to make, only that a WR who's better at contested catches could've scored in both instances.

Sorry for the sidebar. Back to the Diggs discussion lol.

Pretty sure the (way) late throw was earlier in the game (it was before the GZ FG). On the actual decent Goff pass, Gilmore had his arm before the ball arrived. Good veteran move by Gilmore that made the catch a lot tougher. Anyway, my main issue was you saying he can't catch contested balls. Those 2 plays were both less than 50-50 balls for any WR, and he made a very clutch contested catch on a missed penalty literally 1 game before the super bowl.