The Bills are welcoming wide receiver Stefon Diggs with open arms ahead of next season. That’s has something to do with this list from NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
NFL.com produced a ranking of the league’s best pass catchers of 2019 with the analytical numbers. Diggs ranked third-best in the entire league from a year ago. The only two players who ranked ahead of Diggs were Michael Thomas and Tyler Lockett:
In what turned out to be his final season with the Minnesota Vikings, Diggs caught just 63 passes but outgained Lockett in receiving yards, riding a yards-per-reception rate of 17.9 to 1,130 total yards (compared to Lockett’s 1,057). His catch percentage wasn’t nearly as high as Thomas’ or Lockett’s, but he made the most of his opportunities, posting a +10.7 percent catch-rate difference — and he did so by winning press challenges. Diggs was pressed on 42 percent of routes run, enjoying just 2.5 yards of separation on average, yet his targets came with an air-yards average of 14.9.
These figures are exactly why the Bills brought Diggs in for quarterback Josh Allen. John Brown and Cole Beasley are talented in their own right, but the Bills needed a guy who could make a play happen when they are not there.
Diggs alone making a few contested catches for the Bills will help Allen’s completion percentage jump above 60 percent. It improved from 52 to 58 percent last season, but another leap would look awfully nice.
If Allen follows suit and improves his own touch to all of his targets next season? Watch out, NFL.
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