When all is said and done, the legacy of Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll will be his ability to create elite secondaries. The Legion of Boom was a perfect combination of late round draft steals and Carroll’s simple, yet difficult to stop, defensive schemes.
Although the LOB is long gone, the Seahawks are already proving they can still pack a punch in the secondary, and a big part of that success recently has been the team’s acquisition of Quandre Diggs.
Diggs was acquired from the Lions, along with a seventh round pick, for a fifth rounder. He was having a rather pedestrian year with Detroit, playing primarily strong safety. He had previous experience as a nickel back as well, but Carroll saw what few (if any) others saw: how his skill set would translate into a cover-3 free safety in his defense.
“I thought you could see it,” Carroll said of Diggs’ potential at free safety. “There’s indications that you can see over his time playing, that he’s just a really good, natural football player. He makes good decisions, he goes for stuff, and he’s aggressive. There’s guys that I’ve coached before – and you guys have seen how Earl [Thomas] played, and if you go back to Troy Polamalu and those guys – they have a different mentality than some other players. They look for the opportunity to for it and they trust themselves because they’ve done it before, and they’ve had the experience. I’ve tried to tell you guys about that, and he is one of those guys.”
Diggs may not be the player that Earl Thomas is, but he certainly possesses that same mentality, aggressiveness and high football IQ that made Thomas the catalyst of Seattle’s Legion of Boom.
Carroll’s ability to see that in an opposing player, who was playing a different position, is a skill that has helped him maintain a solid defensive backfield for the entirety of his career, even when they churn through players at the highest level.
Diggs is next in line for the Seahawks, and while Carroll won’t divulge too much of his secrets, it’s very clear he has a high affinity for Diggs’ play so far.
“He’s not the biggest, the fastest; he’s just a really good football player and he’s tough as hell,” Carroll continued. “It shows up in numbers of ways, it’s not just any one aspect. He’s playing well across the board; fitting in on the run, making his hits in the passing game, and defending the ball down the field. I think we’re lucky to have him.”
Diggs and the Seahawks will head to Carolina to take on the Panthers in their final road game of the season on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 10:00 a.m. PT.
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