Blair Anderson is the voice behind the Wide Left blog. He’s a Vikings superfan who convinced BMTN to let him release his opinions to the wider public. Here he is with his thoughts on the Stefon Diggs trade.
After a full year of speculation and weeks of seventh-grade tweets from his Twitter account, the Vikings finally sent Stefon Diggs packing on Monday night in a trade with the Buffalo Bills.
The deal gave the Vikings a boatload of draft picks, including a first-rounder in next month’s NFL Draft, and bumped their total number of selections to 13.
But just as people talked themselves into thinking trading Randy Moss was a good idea 15 years ago, this might very well be just as regrettable in due time. Sure, Moss struggled with the Raiders who didn’t have a quarterback, but Moss set records years later in New England.
Consider what Diggs pulled off last season. He set a career-high with 1,130 yards while his yards per target nearly doubled from 2018. Although he only had six touchdowns, he still pulled this off without Adam Thielen for the majority of the season, meaning Diggs was often double-teamed by opposing defenses.
Although his splits went down with Thielen in the lineup, it wasn’t like Diggs wasn’t getting open. For years, Diggs’ releases have been one of the best in the game and have helped even the immortal Case Keenum look like a franchise-saving god.
— Nick Olson (@NickOlsonNFL) February 20, 2020
— Nick Olson (@NickOlsonNFL) February 26, 2020
Stefon Diggs vs. six different all-pros: pic.twitter.com/RPbxTmHI5I
— Nick Olson (@NickOlsonNFL) November 14, 2018
But no matter, the Vikings have a guy that can throw it up in Kirk Cousins! There shouldn’t be any problems here…
Stefon Diggs is IMHO the best route runner in the NFL & one of the best separators in the NFL.
Losing him is particularly problematic for Kirk Cousins, who has always struggled throwing to WRs unless they can clearly separate.
I'm reminded of Jay Gruden's criticism in 2017: pic.twitter.com/3uG9cVCgWK
— Nick Olson (@NickOlsonNFL) March 17, 2020
“But, Blair! Diggs is such a drama queen! The locker room is going to be better without him!”
Did Diggs cause a distraction by not showing up to practice after a Week 4 loss to the Bears? Absolutely. Was it warranted after the Vikings ran an offense that was similar to the freaking wishbone? You bleeping betcha.
And yet, Ol’ Zim doesn’t seem to see the angle from both sides. I mean, who wouldn’t love ramming the ball straight into Akeem Hicks 16 times for no gain and then checking down to C.J. Ham? It’s something that is inexcusable for an old-school coach like Zim.
Good luck trying to be a diva with Mike Zimmer as your head coach#Vikings pic.twitter.com/Rsscj4kNlN
— Adam Patrick (@adampatrickNFL) March 17, 2020
There were other things too, such as tossing his helmet in a playoff game they were winning, and sending nonstop cryptic tweets. Do we all really think Thielen won’t be acting like Diggs did if the same issues pop up next season?
“Come on, Blair! Thielen would never do what Diggs did!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdnLhzUKRYc
Let’s think about this here. The Vikings traded Thielen’s best friend off the team. He’s still stuck in a run-first offense where he’ll now be double-teamed with a quarterback that doesn’t throw to receivers unless they’re open by five yards. I’m sure he won’t cause a fuss.
Adam Thielen: "At some point, you're not going to be able to run the ball for 180 yards, even with the best running back in the NFL. That's when you have to be able to throw the ball. … You have to be able to hit the deep balls."
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) September 30, 2019
“But this draft class is loaded! We can find another Stefon Diggs.”
Much like Peter Griffin on Family Guy, the Vikings are allured by thinking they could find an equivalent to Diggs in the draft. I mean…Diggs is Diggs, but a first-round pick could be anything. It could even be Stefon Diggs!
It could also be Troy Williamson. Or Demetrius Underwood. Or Matt Kalil. Or Laquon Treadwell. See where I’m going with this?
For the second time in the past 15 years, the Vikings have given away an elite talent for the hope that they can nail all of their picks. The odds of that happening are slim and even if they do try to ground-and-pound their way back to glory, perhaps just dealing with all the baggage that came with Diggs may have been a better option.
