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“You want that guy”: Stefon Diggs through the eyes of his former coaches


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This is posted in the Diggs thread but didn’t want it to get buried since it is 60+ pages. Sub required but I pulled out some excerpts. Enjoy! 
 

The Daboll/Locksley connection was one I hadn’t thought of 

 



I won’t get into all that,” former Vikings receivers coach Darrell Hazell said. “All I’ll say is sometimes his competitiveness is mistaken for other things people don’t see. He is the ultimate competitor. He wants to help his team win however he can do that. Sometimes that’s not perceived the right way. But let me tell you something: There’s not a guy I would rather coach more than that guy because of it. That fire is in him to win football games for his team. Not for himself, but for his team. You want that guy in your locker room. You want that guy on your sideline. And if you don’t have that guy in your locker room, then you’re a little bit concerned.”

His personality, yeah he’s a little flamboyant and he likes to talk,” Hull said. “But with his work ethic, no one on the team ever took that the wrong way or anything like that. Obviously coaching him, you have to know how to reach him and understand how to keep his personality under control where it does not become a distraction. It never really became a distraction or anything like that. As long as you have set guidelines and he understands, he buys in … but he’s always going to be who he is. You can’t change who he is because he’s not going to be the same player if you try to change his personality and make him into somebody that he’s not.”
Added Locksley: “With Stef, the biggest thing I found is that if he trusts you and you have a real relationship with him, you won’t have issues with him. For him, when the trust is broken or if there’s something that came in between it, you start seeing some of the actions that we’ve all witnessed out of him somewhat.”

When Locksley was calling plays at Maryland, he made a point to try to get Diggs somewhere between 10 and 15 touches per game because of how dangerous he was with the ball in his hands. Locksley coached with Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll when the two were at Alabama and knows his former colleague will find a way to maximize Diggs’ talent. Locksley called Diggs a great learner who understands concepts enough to be plugged in at any receiver position in order to get the football.
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47 minutes ago, CommonCents said:

So that had inside knowledge about him, makes me feel even better. I loved Diggs coming out and still do. I’d probably not have liked Kirk Cousins either. 

 

I like Kirk Cousins from what I know, but he strikes me as a bit cerebral and insular - he got the Redskins to give him his own office off the locker room, ferpetesake. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

This is posted in the Diggs thread but didn’t want it to get buried since it is 60+ pages. Sub required but I pulled out some excerpts. Enjoy! 
 

The Daboll/Locksley connection was one I hadn’t thought of 

 


 

 

 

 


I appreciate you positing this again.  I never would have found this on page 69 of that thread.

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1 hour ago, Phil The Thrill said:


I appreciate you positing this again.  I never would have found this on page 69 of that thread.

Cool. It’s a fine line - obviously there is a lot of Diggs content being pumped out right now but don’t want tons of Diggs threads talking about the same thing. I agree certain articles should be highlighted. 

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3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

This is posted in the Diggs thread but didn’t want it to get buried since it is 60+ pages. Sub required but I pulled out some excerpts. Enjoy! 
 

The Daboll/Locksley connection was one I hadn’t thought of 

 


 

 

 

 

 

sounds great but he better not need 15 touches a game to feel appreciated.

 

 

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46 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

This article really deserves to be read. Anyone who has an issue with acquiring Diggs because of his attitude should read this.

I didn't read the article, but I imagine it mirrors what's been said about all diva wide receivers at some point. "The guy only acts like a dick because he's super competitive". Blah blah blah..

 

Truth is, Diggs has been a head case on more than one occasion recently. If the Bills can control that, then I'm sure we'll all consider this a great trade. If he continues to B word and moan, giving up a first round pick for him won't be looked upon so fondly.

 

Having said that, he's a great talent and depending on Allen's progression, could catapult the offense into making the Bills a legit contender. 

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9 minutes ago, QB Bills said:

I didn't read the article, but I imagine it mirrors what's been said about all diva wide receivers at some point. "The guy only acts like a dick because he's super competitive". Blah blah blah..

 

Truth is, Diggs has been a head case on more than one occasion recently. If the Bills can control that, then I'm sure we'll all consider this a great trade. If he continues to B word and moan, giving up a first round pick for him won't be looked upon so fondly.

 

Having said that, he's a great talent and depending on Allen's progression, could catapult the offense into making the Bills a legit contender. 

High risk high reward though. I think this year is worth taking a shot at a guy. That being said if it fails, I'd give McBeane another shot at it.

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22 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

This article really deserves to be read. Anyone who has an issue with acquiring Diggs because of his attitude should read this.

 

Exactly. These coaches seem to back up what I heard at some point as to the reason why Diggs had some issues in Minnesota. It wasn't because he was a prima dona receiver, wanting the ball more to pad his own stats and get on highlight reels to stroke his own ego or get more money. It wasn't because he didn't work hard or do all of the right things. It wasn't because he had another great receiver on the other side stealing targets from him (Diggs and Thielen are tight, like brothers). What I had heard was that his relationship with Cousins soured because Diggs felt that when they got into crunch time, 3rd and 4th quarters, the game on the line, he felt Cousins would fold under the pressure and that frustrated Diggs because he is such a competitor and just wants to win all of the time (but that's what makes all of the great ones great---think of a Tom Brady or a Michael Jordan, their will to win and get better is insatiable and they won't accept less from their teammates. You may not be as good as them, but you better be at least trying as hard as they are).

 

People who worry he'll act the same way with Josh, should stop worrying. First, because Josh is so humble and so damn likable, I do not see any ego clashing between the two or personality issues. I think Josh will win him over like Josh has with everyone else (look at Josh and Shady when he was here, LeSean was seen as a bit of a prima dona, and was definitely a big name in the league...he loved Josh). And it doesn't hurt that John Brown is also a super humble guy. Secondly, because as Diggs said himself, Josh is a baller and a dog. Whatever Josh's flaws might still be, the kid is an ultimate competitor and is always trying to win. Yes, he might do something crazy, like lateralling the ball in a playoff game or hurdling a defender, but it's because he wants to will his team to victory. He'll put his body in harm's way to win. He might not be successful every time, but he never folds or quits (didn't he have the most 4th quarter comebacks of QBs last year?). I think Diggs will love that about him, so he won't be complaining (as some have surmised) if the balls aren't pinpoint accurate, etc. As long as Josh is fighting to the end, Diggs will be good. And lastly, the coach and culture. One of the quotes above was, "With Stef, the biggest thing I found is that if he trusts you and you have a real relationship with him, you won’t have issues with him." McD is all about trust, respect, and building real, family-type relationships. And so is Josh. I think Diggs is going to love it in Buffalo and the team will embrace him to the point that if any issues were ever to arise, they will talk them out and move on. 

 

I'm not worried at all about Diggs in that sense. Plus the media blows everything out of proportion. Remember before the draft, how Josh was being treated like a horrible, racist person because of some old tweet. I think we can all see how far off base that was about Josh. I think Diggs and the Bills are a perfect marriage.

 

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3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I like Kirk Cousins from what I know, but he strikes me as a bit cerebral and insular - he got the Redskins to give him his own office off the locker room, ferpetesake. 

 

That's insane if true and would never happen with Coach McD. It makes perfect sense why he's perceived the way he is. Could you imagine Brady or Manning stepping out of their own office in or off the locker room. Good lord. :wallbash:

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53 minutes ago, QB Bills said:

I didn't read the article, but I imagine it mirrors what's been said about all diva wide receivers at some point. "The guy only acts like a dick because he's super competitive". Blah blah blah..

 

It almost seems endemic in the top WR to be a bit of a "head case" or "Diva".

 

8 minutes ago, babulator said:

 

That's insane if true and would never happen with Coach McD. It makes perfect sense why he's perceived the way he is. Could you imagine Brady or Manning stepping out of their own office in or off the locker room. Good lord. :wallbash:

 

Oh, it's true

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2017/09/06/kirk-cousins-has-a-nook-at-redskins-park-and-he-loves-it-so-much/

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10 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:


Um... check “Personal Life” section.  He was older, wiser (and probably humbled) by the time he came to Buffalo.  But he had his off the field moments early in his career


How about concerning football? If you can bring up an incident where Lofton put himself in front of his team I’d be shocked.

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4 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Cool. It’s a fine line - obviously there is a lot of Diggs content being pumped out right now but don’t want tons of Diggs threads talking about the same thing. I agree certain articles should be highlighted. 

Neither do we.??

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