Numbers: Claiborne vs. Diggs

[Doomsday101]

Claiborne was not a bad player, but he needed to be great to justify the draft capital used to obtain him.
Could not stay healthy either.

True he was billed and the next Deion Sanders and was and is far from that.

 

[aikemirv]

To be fair hindsight is 20-20. Everybody thought Claiborne was a can't miss shutdown corner. He would have been a bust no matter who drafted him.

The fact the Cowboys could have kept their picks and gotten Michael Brockers and Bobby Wagner in the 1st and 2nd rounds instead of trading up is what really stings.

The talent difference these guys face from college to the pros is so significant it is hard to measure what that will do to the confidence of a player, especially a CB. In a lot of cases these guys have never had to face the combination of WR and QB talent they face in the NFL and they can't mentally overcome the failures to have the confidence to really succeed in the NFL.

 

[Vinnie2u]

The 4 on the Wonderlic test was ignored...

 

[conner01]

I'm not sure why we expect scouts and others to be infallible - remember during the draft that Kiper and Mayock stated Claiborne had the best ball skills of any CB he'd seen in the past 10-12 years so it wasn't like we were up in the night. Many on this very forum were very excited about him.

Not like Diggs wasn't highly thought of as well and I'm glad we have him, but no team bats 1.000.

Those scouts probably not around today lol

 

[KJJ]

Claiborne only had 4 INTs for the Cowboys in five seasons. He could never stay healthy, he didn’t have a lot of speed and was one of the biggest busts in franchise history. Could never understand how so many pro scouts had him rated as the best defensive player in his draft class. He played for a great college team which probably masked a lot of his deficiencies.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Because we’re talking about highly drafted cornerbacks here and I want to see something, thats why.

Don't know where the OP got his stats from so these may be slightly different, but here is what PFF says about Jones

109 Games
5 Int
44 Pass Break ups (Not sure how that compares to passes defended by the OP, but assuming its similar or the same)

 

[Zekeats]

Diggs is getting another interception Sunday.

Might even get 2 against Wentz.

It’ll be a hat trick

 

[Risen Star]

The worst move the FO did was give Rob Ryan two man corners and give up a lot in doing so, then fire Rob Ryan to then hire Kiffin, who was an outdated Cover 2 coordinator.

Yes, that doesn't mean they never ran man coverage under Monte/Rod the year after but I didn't like that they spent money and picks on corners specifically for man then blew up the defense the following year. The only corner that didn't struggle with zone was Scandrick.

And if you were a smarter fan you'd say the worst move they made at the time was spending the bulk of their offseason capital on Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne as if cornerbacks were going to change anything.

They provided the zero impact I expected.

 

[Ken]

Add CZ favorite Byron Jones stats to the OP too I wanna see something

Without even looking, Claiborn's counting stats dwarf BJ's.

The guy is and was allergic to the ball.

So overated.

 

[dckid]

“Our scouts graded him (Claiborne) the highest of any DB we’ve scouted.” — Jerry after trading up to draft Mo Claiborne 6th overall in the 2012 Draft

Claiborne
85 games (74 starts)
7 INTs
49 passes defensed

Diggs
31 games (30 starts)
15 INTs
41 passes defensed

It's ok, teams make mistakes. Diggs is amazing.

 

[cowboyec]

i loved the mo claiborne pick at the time.
i thought he would be the next pat peterson.
didn't work out that way...but still love the guy.
i'm glad we have diggsy.
helluva player...fun to watch.

 

[Denim Chicken]

That trade up still irks me. lol

Me to. I was screaming for Cox.

 

[stilltheguru]

Pumping his chest on the rare occasion he's correct. Cute

And if you were a smarter fan you'd say the worst move they made at the time was spending the bulk of their offseason capital on Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne as if cornerbacks were going to change anything.

They provided the zero impact I expected.

 

[G2]

Claiborne was highly rated before the draft as one of the best CBs we've seen. It could have been any team that drafted him, I don't know why it even matters at this point to use hindsight. The trade up seems worse than it was IMO. Just like anything, if he turned out great, we're heroes.

 

[G2]

And if you were a smarter fan you'd say the worst move they made at the time was spending the bulk of their offseason capital on Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne as if cornerbacks were going to change anything.

They provided the zero impact I expected.

Carr was the top 1 or 2 CB available. You should get a team if you "knew."

 

[Hennessy_King]

I was so excited when we drafted claiborne. Our secondary was so bad

 

[charron]

Hurts to be wrong. But if the consensus is xyz player is the best prospect in 10 years you dam right you go get them. If you tbought there was a micah on the board would you not go get him? Of course you would, but they dont always pan out.

 

[sunalsorises]

Don’t forget wonderlic score

Claiborne 4
Diggs 15

 

[Toro9]

“Our scouts graded him (Claiborne) the highest of any DB we’ve scouted.” — Jerry after trading up to draft Mo Claiborne 6th overall in the 2012 Draft

Claiborne
85 games (74 starts)
7 INTs
49 passes defensed

Diggs
31 games (30 starts)
15 INTs
41 passes defensed

We all know Diggs is money, and I expect he'll eventually be a lockdown. He's still kind of a receiver learning DB though. I love the dude. Not just for his play but for what he says in his interviews. He's humble and chill, but insightful.

Mo had trouble staying healthy but he had his struggles too. I will say, in his contact year, for whatever coincidence or none, he was almost a lockdown. In my opinion, Mo was a decent player overall.

 

[Hoofbite]

It's hard to imagine how the whole world was so wrong about Claiborne. I have no clue how you perform so well and then just fall off the earth.