5 most trusted pass-catchers for Vikings QB Kirk Cousins
By Dustin Baker
2. Stefon Diggs
With Cousins:
- Yards per Target: 8.85 yards
- Percentage of Touchdowns to Target: 6.17 percent
- Percentage of First Downs to Target: 34.15 percent
Had this analysis focused solely on the 2019 season, Stefon Diggs would have conquered everyone by a wide margin. Diggs was tremendous last season, and with Cousins, he fundamentally clicked in stretching the field. On the season, Diggs, Adam Thielen, and Kyle Rudolph all accounted for six receiving touchdowns.
When Diggs and Cousins developed the deep-passing dynamic, the nation seemed to have a reputational breakout party for Diggs’ talents. Many fans and pundits decided that because Thielen was injured and Diggs added a deep-ball acumen to his game, he was suddenly the better football player. That may very well be true, but Diggs has only truly blossomed in this manner with Cousins’ arrival to Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Cousins had been launching deep passes for the Washington Football Team with frequency during his three-year tenure in the nation’s capital. In Cousins’ career, he has thrown 40 touchdown passes of 30 yards or more. Six of those 40 touchdowns have been caught by Stefon Diggs. Not as lopsided as you might surmise.
This September, Diggs will be given a fresh opportunity to assert himself as the Buffalo Bills deep-threat if signal-caller Josh Allen improves his deep-passing accuracy.