Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs is hitting his stride at age 29 as he prepares for his ninth NFL season. Since joining the Seahawks in a trade with the Detroit Lions in 2019, he has caught 20 interceptions in 38 games with Seattle. Despite the Pro Bowl nods, Diggs wants a lot more for himself and the team heading into 2022.
In January, Diggs suffered a broken right fibula and dislocated ankle in Week 18 against the Arizona Cardinals. The injury ended regulation just minutes before Diggs’ season ended. In March, Seattle re-signed Diggs to a three-year contract, showing great confidence in the star safety who is reeling off consecutive five-catch seasons. On Day 2 of training camp, Diggs took some time at the podium to talk about himself and what he saw on the field.
With the preseason just around the corner, Diggs’ recovery has been a hot topic.
“I’m right,” he said. “I’m where God wants me to be and it’s important for me to get out here and be here with my teammates as much as I can, so I’m taking it one day at a time. I’m blessed and living in the moment most of the time. I got a beautiful family and I got a beautiful opportunity To come out here and be around the guys and get back with my coaches, so it’s really cool.”
Even with a new contract, Diggs maintains the hunger and humility that have been attributed to his success.
“You can always feel complacent, but you can never be comfortable,” he said. “So for me I’m happy to be here for another three years and in the end you know I still have a job and I still have things to prove, so for me you can never think that you’re settled somewhere and think that everything is fine and because at the end of the day it’s a business.”
The former Detroit Lions captain is known as a “do it all” player for the Seahawks defense, and the numbers show. For the 2021 season, Diggs had 94 combined tackles, 5 interceptions and 7 passes defensed.
I honestly don’t know at this point how anyone can NOT see Quandre Diggs as a top 10 safety. It’s ridiculous to me.
He’s the only damn player in the NFL with at least three interceptions in the last five years. https://t.co/GX2ke6rnvp
Despite being one of only 20 players to record five consecutive interception seasons, Diggs took a bit of a different tack in the recently released Madden 23 ratings. If Diggs manages to catch five more interceptions in 2022, he would become the 11th player in league history to catch five or more in three consecutive seasons.
Diggs corrects his Madden rating because of his catching skills, despite being one of the best ballplayers in the league
Catching a 72? How do the other safeties who are tied to me in most interceptions over the last few years catch a higher rating than me? We should have the same catch rating I would assume.. @EAMaddenNFL
In training camp, Diggs took time to dominate the game ratings and all the various media rankings.
“I take a little bit of everything,” he said. “To me, it’s not something I don’t take lightly. If they put him as the second-best safety in the league, I’d still take it a little bit. To me, that’s all the same. If I’m not first and if I’m not the best and they don’t think that, that it’s on them. I feel that way.”
At 29, Diggs is the oldest member of the secondary, two months older than cornerback Justin Coleman. Diggs may be goal-oriented and focused on his own success, but he’s taking note of the talent around him. Namely, Seahawks rookie cornerbacks Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen.
“I love their mentality,” Diggs said. “I mean those guys work their tails off and Coby reminds me a lot of myself when I was a rookie and how he approaches the game and how he goes about his business. He’s also about the ball and that’s something that I have. pride in myself young guys still do . Tariq’s got all the tools. He’s a Texas guy, so of course I look up to him. Both of those guys are impressive players and I’m really excited that they’re here. When we got them. , I was really excited that they were able to come here.”
Injuries, careers, rankings – Diggs doesn’t care. The most important thing is to get what you deserve: respect. Another season for the league to feel its pain.
