When cornerback Trevon Diggs was brought to the Green Bay Packers off a waiver claim via the Dallas Cowboys, I assumed that the team was going to use him as emergency depth moving forward
. Remember, just last week, the Packers lost cornerbacks Nate Hobbs and Kamal Hadden to injuries that placed them on the injured reserve, which means that at the earliest we’ll see them back in green and gold for the Super Bowl.With the way the Packers deployed their cornerbacks on Sunday, saving Carrington Valentine
from seeing any playing time in a meaningless game (like other codified starters on the team) and only playing Keisean Nixon for five snaps, it sure seemed like the team was going to ride out the Valentine-Nixon combo for the playoffs. But on Sunday, after the loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said that they are still considering Diggs as a possible starter for the postseason.
For what it’s worth, Diggs played 32 snaps of defense in Week 18, as many as practice-squad call-up Shemar Bartholomew and fewer than another practice-squad cornerback in Jaylin Simpson (59).
Earlier this week, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley stated that he hoped that Diggs would be able to get on the field against the Vikings, but that he wasn’t confident that Diggs was going to be able to in such a short turnaround. Obviously, he was able to get playing time on Sunday.
At a minimum, Diggs should be the Packers’ third outside cornerback option in the wild card round, but maybe he’ll surprise us all and make a start.
