Image: Awuzie vs Diggs

Batman1980

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Comparing Diggs to Awuzie is unfair to Chido . Better comparison is when Jerry 2 yrs ago made the right decision to keep both Brown & Lewis in Dallas and let Awuzie go. Couldn’t keep all three on sal cap structure.

Yeah I'd much rather have Awuzie than fan favourite Brown. Awuzie probably means we don't draft problem child Joseph. Awuzie, Diggs, Lewis, Hooker and Kearse sounds like a top 5 secondary to me.
 

fivetwos

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HE wasnt very good when he was here and he isnt very good now. Thats the way I see it.
Yep. I'm not unhappy with the choices they made at the position, other than a reach for Joseph at 44, but he can still make good on that....

Think about what may be the deepest position on the team....probably corner.
 

baltcowboy

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Awuzie was a solid coverage corner, but really struggled finding the football when his back was towards the QB. Much better facing, in zone coverage. He was more of a nickel corner/safety when he entered the league. Think his ability is maxed out. Diggs has special abilities as a playmaker. Yes, he needs more development in the technical part, but he is a game changer with his ball skills. People tend to forget, Diggs has only played 2 seasons, where he missed time as a rookie. We haven't seen the best Diggs yet, which is scary.
He was always injured as well. Anthony Brown played better last season then Awuzie ever did for the Cowboys.
 

KJJ

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Awuzie was much better in Dallas than people gave him credit for. However, it is very much typical for people to say how good a player is once he’s no longer in Dallas.

You know the drill:
When he’s a Cowboy, he sucks.
If Dallas re-signs a player, he sucks and is over paid.
When Dallas let’s a player go, the team messed up and they are much less talented without said player.

Having said all of that, I do think Chidobe is a good player. I wish he could have had a chance to play under Quinn.

Chido had a better year in Cincinnati than any of the seasons he played in Dallas. He had a couple of picks with 42 return yards. He had 14 pass defenses. He had an INT in the Super Bowl with five solo tackles.
 

Manwiththeplan

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I mean he has Diggs ranked 9th…not really caring as much as him having 15 CBs as #1s in a 32 team league
 

gimmesix

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Obviously to be taken with a grain of salt but Lindy's 2022 Preview has Awuzie rated higher than Diggs.
What say you?
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I would assume that it's because Diggs is a risk-taker, which is why he had so many interceptions but also causes coverage mistakes at times. Awuzie is much more safe, the kind of stick-to-em corners we've had in the past who run stride for stride with receivers but rarely make a play on the ball.

It's really a question of what you want: more turnovers or more difficult throws.
 

Batman1980

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I would assume that it's because Diggs is a risk-taker, which is why he had so many interceptions but also causes coverage mistakes at times. Awuzie is much more safe, the kind of stick-to-em corners we've had in the past who run stride for stride with receivers but rarely make a play on the ball.

It's really a question of what you want: more turnovers or more difficult throws.
Why not both?
 

gimmesix

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Why not both?

From one player? That's a little bit more rare. Most of the time when you are going for the interception, you are anticipating throws, so you break early on where you think the ball is heading. Few corners have the ability to do that and recover fast enough if they are wrong. Some interceptions come when corners are just running with the receiver they are covering, usually as a result of a throw that is slightly off. Most come when the corner guesses the route or baits the quarterback so that he can beat the receiver to the ball.
 

Ranched

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Agree with that sentiment completely. Pff has Awuzie ranked 18th & Diggs 21st.

18. CHIDOBE AWUZIE, CINCINNATI BENGALS
Awuzie joined Cincinnati in 2021 and put together the best season of his career, generating 0.45 WAR (11th among cornerbacks). He does his best work in zone coverage, where he can use his feel and explosiveness to his advantage. Awuzie’s 14 passing stops in zone last season were the second-most among outside cornerbacks. He may not be a shutdown defender, but he’s going to get the job done on a weekly basis.



21. TREVON DIGGS, DALLAS COWBOYS
Risk-taking is Diggs’ game. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. His 11 interceptions in 2021 led the NFL, and his 11 forced incompletions tied for 11th. At the same time, the Alabama product ranked worst in the NFL in yards allowed (1,068) and penalties (11). Diggs isn’t going to lose many battles at the catch point due to his length and ball skills. But while his aggressive playstyle leads to high ball production, it also leads to busts, which is why he likely won't place much higher than he does here — a still-excellent spot to be in. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-outside-cornerback-rankings-tiers-2022-jalen-ramsey-jaire-alexander
 

Creeper

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Awuzie was the best CB on the Cowboys roster his last year with Dallas. He is/was underrated by Cowboys fans. Diggs looks like an interception machine but he is also a gambler and when he loses the bet, he gives up a big play. Awuzie is not a splash player but he is steady.

After Digg's rookie contract is up Dallas fans will get a chance to see him play for another team.
 

Batman1980

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From one player? That's a little bit more rare. Most of the time when you are going for the interception, you are anticipating throws, so you break early on where you think the ball is heading. Few corners have the ability to do that and recover fast enough if they are wrong. Some interceptions come when corners are just running with the receiver they are covering, usually as a result of a throw that is slightly off. Most come when the corner guesses the route or baits the quarterback so that he can beat the receiver to the ball.

LOL yeah in this instance I meant why not attempt to have a shutdown corner on one side and a gambler on the other? Beats whatever we were throwing out there for the most part since 2003.
 

erod

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Awuzie can cover but can't catch well.

Diggs can catch but can't cover well.

Awuzie was a big reason Cincy made it to the Super Bowl however.
 

Dre11

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1 is a 1st team all Pro
1 isn't and hasn't even been to a pro bowl
 

gimmesix

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LOL yeah in this instance I meant why not attempt to have a shutdown corner on one side and a gambler on the other? Beats whatever we were throwing out there for the most part since 2003.

I don't think we'd mind that, and probably wouldn't have minded keeping Awuzie, but the team felt that he wasn't that much better than Brown or Lewis when he was going to cost much more. Of course, that caused us to have to draft Joseph in the second round last year because we know that Brown and Lewis aren't the answer ... although Brown did play much better as a starter than we could have anticipated.
 

gimmesix

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Agree with that sentiment completely. Pff has Awuzie ranked 18th & Diggs 21st.

18. CHIDOBE AWUZIE, CINCINNATI BENGALS
Awuzie joined Cincinnati in 2021 and put together the best season of his career, generating 0.45 WAR (11th among cornerbacks). He does his best work in zone coverage, where he can use his feel and explosiveness to his advantage. Awuzie’s 14 passing stops in zone last season were the second-most among outside cornerbacks. He may not be a shutdown defender, but he’s going to get the job done on a weekly basis.



21. TREVON DIGGS, DALLAS COWBOYS
Risk-taking is Diggs’ game. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. His 11 interceptions in 2021 led the NFL, and his 11 forced incompletions tied for 11th. At the same time, the Alabama product ranked worst in the NFL in yards allowed (1,068) and penalties (11). Diggs isn’t going to lose many battles at the catch point due to his length and ball skills. But while his aggressive playstyle leads to high ball production, it also leads to busts, which is why he likely won't place much higher than he does here — a still-excellent spot to be in. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-outside-cornerback-rankings-tiers-2022-jalen-ramsey-jaire-alexander

Definitely believe that more zone coverage strongly benefitted Awuzie. Some corners just aren't as good as man. Diggs had a lot more man responsibilities, which means if you blow the coverage, it's liable to be ugly.
 

kskboys

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I don't think we'd mind that, and probably wouldn't have minded keeping Awuzie, but the team felt that he wasn't that much better than Brown or Lewis when he was going to cost much more. Of course, that caused us to have to draft Joseph in the second round last year because we know that Brown and Lewis aren't the answer ... although Brown did play much better as a starter than we could have anticipated.
I don't agree. Brown has been decent for a while now.
 

gimmesix

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I don't agree. Brown has been decent for a while now.

He was the fourth corner in 2017 and third corner the next two seasons. (He did start 10 games in 2017, but played so well that we replaced him with the rookie Awuzie.) I don't think it's likely he would have started over the rookie Diggs in 2020, either, even if he had not gotten hurt. So if you mean third corner or worst when you say decent, I'll agree with that. Last year, he started and looked like he belonged ... not necessarily a player you wouldn't like to upgrade, but probably his best since his rookie year.
 
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