PFF names Bills’ Stefon Diggs NFL’s 4th WR best in 2020
It’s hard to complain about something such as the No. 4 overall ranking on a list of NFL bests… but this one feels a little questionable.
Pro Football Focus released their list of their top-25 wide receivers in the league this season. Buffalo Bills star receiver Stefon Diggs clocks in at No. 4 overall. Not bad, right?
But not bad for the guy who led the NFL in most major receiving stats? Interesting…
First, here’s how PFF reasoned Diggs at four:
Diggs had a solid five years in Minnesota, but he never came close to having a season like the one he just had in Buffalo. Diggs earned PFF grades between 78.3 and 82.6 in each of his five years as a Viking and jumped to 90.1 in his first season as a Bill. Diggs has seen single coverage at one of the highest rates in the NFL this season yet has still generated separation at the league’s fourth-highest rate on those plays — it is why Diggs had eight more catches against single coverage than any other wide receiver (58).
So No. 4… who could possibly be ranked higher than Diggs?
At No. 1, the Packers’ Devante Adams. Fair… OK. We’ll do that. Diggs led the NFL with 127 catches and 1,535 receiving yards. Where Adams was more impressive was catching touchdown passes. He had a ridiculous 18, which is even more impressive considering he only played in 14 games.
We’ll give the football analytics folks Adams.
But at No. 2 is Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson and at No. 3 is Tennessee Titans wideout AJ Brown.
Good players? Yes. Good players playing on run-first teams meaning Diggs had a far-greater impact on his own team by comparison? Also very much yes.
But let’s leave this one on a good note.
Along with Diggs, wide receiver Cole Beasley clocked in at No. 13 on the rankings. That’s fine and we’ll allow that one (although, Beasley was named an All-Pro…).
Wrapping up, here’s PFF breakdown on Beasley:
Beasley was an exceptional complementary piece to Stefon Diggs this year, as he exploited holes in zone coverage from the slot all year long. No wide receiver has caught more targets through finding holes in zone this season than Beasley (35), a big reason why he’s generated the NFL’s highest rate of open targets.
