Minnesota Vikings: Stefon Diggs has become an elite wide receiver

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs has become an elite player at his position. How has he trumped pre-draft evaluations?

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs appears to have vaulted himself into the class of elite receivers in the NFL, and I’m here to tell you why that’s not just a hot take.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Maryland, Diggs did everything right in the pre-draft process. At six feet tall, 195 pounds, Diggs ran a 4.46 second 40-yard dash and had a 35-inch vertical jump.

He showed out as a rookie in just 13 games, earning nine starts and catching 52 passes for 720 yards and four touchdowns. As a second year player, Diggs battled through injuries to catch 84 passes for 903 yards in 11 games.

Back to full strength in 2017, Diggs appears to have vaulted himself into a different class of player, catching 17 passes in the Vikings’ first three games, already matching his career high of four touchdown catches and averaging a whopping 17.2 yards per reception.

Here was a pre-draft assessment of Diggs as a player:

"Doesn’t possess the strength or long speed to make a living as an outside receiver, but he can be an extremely effective weapon from the slot as a pro, turning short third-down throws into first downs. Diggs can make things happen when he has the ball in his hands and could become a consistent, productive weapon for the right offensive coordinator.NFL.com"

It appears in a short amount of time, Diggs has already squashed some of that scouting report. We don’t mean to bag on Lance Zierlein, who is one of the best in the business over at NFL.com, but more highlight how Diggs has overcome pre-draft projections, even as you look across the landscape of the league he’s playing in, where all 32 teams passed on him for four full rounds and part of the fifth.

With Case Keenum playing quarterback this past weekend, Diggs was nearly perfect, making plays like these:

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These are not normal plays by most wide receivers in the NFL.

Diggs has proven himself capable of winning on the outside, against press, against zone, in the slot, and in the red zone. He’s a weapon after the catch, and he’s capable of going up and winning jump balls despite being only six feet tall.

This guy is absolutely great, and through three games and two quarterbacks, he’s proving (with a near-perfect wide receiver rating) to be among the best wide receivers in the game right now.

He has the NFL lead in touchdown catches (4) and is now getting favorable matchups with Adam Thielen commanding attention on the other side. There’s a lot of season left to play, but the early returns indicate Diggs is on the path of being an elite NFL receiver, and one of the best in the game for years to come.