Stefon Diggs is looking for a new team. He’ll be 33 in November, but it seems like he can still play at a credible level. He was more than credible for the Patriots last year.
While Diggs isn’t what he’s been in the past, he’s still got the smarts and feel to effectively work the middle of the field. That was certainly the case last year. In his lone season with New England, Diggs caught 85 of the 102 passes thrown his way. Not much in the way of big plays downfield, but an 83 percent catch rate is pretty click.
Since the league started publishing targets in 1992, 1,186 wide receivers have seen at least 100 targets in a season. Only one of those guys – Michael Thomas in 2018s – finished with a higher catch rate than Diggs last year.
Some of that success, of course, can perhaps be attributed to Josh McDaniels’ scheme or Drake Maye playing lights out. With those ingredients in place, we should all be excited about A.J. Brown this year. But Diggs was an effective chain mover for them (far better than I was expecting, I will concede).
In the last 34 seasons, only 28 wide receivers with at least 100 targets have caught at least 75 percent of what was thrown their way. Diggs has done it three times (with three different teams).
The question, it seems, is whether he can keep it rolling. He’s the oldest player to have such a season. Of the other 27 players to finish north of 75 percent, only three were older than 29 at the end of the season. (In the charet below, I’ve got the thirtysomethings tagged with black dots.)
| CATCHING 75 PERCENT OF TARGETS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Pct |
| 2018 | Michael Thomas, N.O. | 147 | 125 | 1,405 | 11.2 | 9 | 85.0% |
| 2025 | • Stefon Diggs, N.E. | 102 | 85 | 1,013 | 11.9 | 4 | 83.3% |
| 2024 | Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 141 | 115 | 1,263 | 11.0 | 12 | 81.6% |
| 2019 | Michael Thomas, N.O. | 185 | 149 | 1,725 | 11.6 | 9 | 80.5% |
| 2021 | Hunter Renfrow, L.V. | 128 | 103 | 1,038 | 10.1 | 9 | 80.5% |
| 2025 | Puka Nacua, LAR | 166 | 129 | 1,715 | 13.3 | 10 | 77.7% |
| 2023 | Rashee Rice, K.C. | 102 | 79 | 938 | 11.9 | 7 | 77.5% |
| 2007 | Wes Welker, N.E. | 145 | 112 | 1,175 | 10.5 | 8 | 77.2% |
| 2022 | JuJu Smith-Schuster, K.C. | 101 | 78 | 933 | 12.0 | 3 | 77.2% |
| 2020 | Davante Adams, G.B. | 149 | 115 | 1,374 | 12.0 | 18 | 77.2% |
| 2021 | Chris Godwin, T.B. | 127 | 98 | 1,103 | 11.3 | 5 | 77.2% |
| 2012 | Randall Cobb, G.B. | 104 | 80 | 954 | 11.9 | 8 | 76.9% |
| 2017 | Golden Tate, Det. | 120 | 92 | 1,003 | 10.9 | 5 | 76.7% |
| 2020 | • Cole Beasley, Buff. | 107 | 82 | 967 | 11.8 | 4 | 76.6% |
| 2020 | Stefon Diggs, Buff. | 166 | 127 | 1,535 | 12.1 | 8 | 76.5% |
| 2016 | Michael Thomas, N.O. | 121 | 92 | 1,137 | 12.4 | 9 | 76.0% |
| 2024 | Khalil Shakir, Buff. | 100 | 76 | 821 | 10.8 | 4 | 76.0% |
| 2009 | Wes Welker, N.E. | 162 | 123 | 1,348 | 11.0 | 4 | 75.9% |
| 2021 | Cooper Kupp, LAR | 191 | 145 | 1,947 | 13.4 | 16 | 75.9% |
| 2020 | JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pitt. | 128 | 97 | 831 | 8.6 | 9 | 75.8% |
| 2020 | Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 132 | 100 | 1,054 | 10.5 | 10 | 75.8% |
| 2015 | Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 103 | 78 | 1,069 | 13.7 | 14 | 75.7% |
| 2021 | Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 119 | 90 | 912 | 10.1 | 5 | 75.6% |
| 2016 | Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 125 | 94 | 1,128 | 12.0 | 7 | 75.2% |
| 2023 | • Adam Thielen, Car. | 137 | 103 | 1,014 | 9.8 | 4 | 75.2% |
| 2015 | • Larry Fitzgerald, Ari. | 145 | 109 | 1,215 | 11.2 | 9 | 75.2% |
| 2016 | Stefon Diggs, Min. | 112 | 84 | 903 | 10.8 | 3 | 75.0% |
| 2014 | Jarvis Landry, Mia. | 112 | 84 | 758 | 9.0 | 5 | 75.0% |
Catch rate isn’t everything, of course. Usually when a guy has a high catch, it means he’s running shorter, possession routes. But Diggs last year averaged 9.9 yards per target, which grades out higher than all but three of the players listed below. It ranks him in the top 20 percent of all wide receivers with 100-plus targets over the last 34 seasons.
With Diggs, there’s also some off-field baggage. Most recently, his private chef accused him of assault in the spring (an incident that won’t result in NFL punishment). Both the Vikings and Bills chose to move on from him. I would think some teams don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze – too much drama.
But assuming he doesn’t decline significantly, he’s looking like he could be a credible second option on most teams. In a PPR format, I think I would take him about 55 receivers into a draft, figuring he’ll be surfacing somewhere.
“I can compete with anybody,” Diggs said in a video on his YouTube channel last week. “You can’t name a No. 2 better than me.”
“There’s not a No. 2 on a team -- let’s presumably give people the credit and just say, ‘OK, you want to take the No. 1 spot away,’” Diggs said. “Name your No. 2 receiver right now, and tell me how much he makes, and then my last question is: Is he better than me?”
—Ian Allan
