How Stefon Diggs Hopes To Guide Patriots’ Young Receiver Room

Stefon Diggs was a spectator throughout September of his first NFL season with the Minnesota Vikings. Only the former No. 146 overall pick didn’t look back to the inactives list from October on.

A spot on the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie team followed. And over the decade since then, so have four Pro Bowls and two All-Pros.

But 2015 is a reference point that can be pulled from to guide the young wide receivers on the New England Patriots’ roster. That’s where Diggs, at age 31, finds himself now after signing a three-year, $69 million contract that includes a reported $26 million guaranteed.

“It’s more so experience from the highs and the lows, I would say, because everybody wants to have success in this league,” Diggs told reporters during his introductory press conference at Gillette Stadium on Friday. “Everybody wants to play at a very high level, but I feel like I can help more so with the lows just because I’ve experienced them myself on a personal level. Like, the first three games of my career, I wasn’t playing at all. It wasn’t until the fourth game that I got my opportunity. And then taking advantage of opportunities and learning that, you know, sometimes the timing is off.”

Over the 13 games from there as a rookie in Minnesota, the timing no longer was off. Diggs turned 52 catches into 720 yards and four touchdowns while making nine starts.

The Maryland Terrapins product went on to lead the league in receptions and receiving yards by 2020 with the Buffalo Bills. And he was on pace to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark for the seventh consecutive campaign before sustaining a torn ACL last fall with the Houston Texans.

The plan is to stay ahead of schedule.

“When it’s your time to shine, shine. And if you don’t, you can’t blame nobody but yourself,” added Diggs. “But I kind of learned that the hard way. Like, sitting on the bench for three games my rookie season, it was kind of rough for me as far as mentally. Like, damn, I thought I had a good camp. I felt like I did what I could have to have some kind of role, not to say what it was. But to help them with the lows is the biggest thing, because everything isn’t going to go your way.

“You sometimes got to learn that the hard way. But if you’re doing what you’re supposed to, you’re committed to it, it’ll bounce your way. The ball will bounce your way eventually. You just never know when. That’s something that I learned when I was younger.”

In Foxborough, the 6-foot, 191-pound Diggs slots in atop a wideout depth chart that includes fellow veterans Kendrick Bourne and Mack Hollins. The room also moves forward with past sixth-rounders DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte, past undrafted free agents JaQuae Jackson and John Jiles, as well as unproven investments from the 2024 class.

Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, who landed at No. 37 and No. 110 overall, respectively, last spring, combined for 37 targets as Patriots rookies. Those targets became 13 completions, 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 22-year-old from the Washington Huskies and the 23-year-old from the Central Florida Knights saw 526 offensive snaps altogether.

They are now joined in the battle to see the field by Diggs, who stands 144 games into his NFL career and previously served as a captain in the AFC South and AFC East.

“I told myself that when I did get the opportunity to go between the lines, I wasn’t going to come off of them, because I’m going to do my job, I’m going to be where I’m supposed to be and I’m going to make plays,” Diggs said. “It’s not all about the Xs and Os, but you got to go out there and make plays, play ball and be a professional.

“I think being a pro’s pro, you’ll learn a lot, too, and I feel like I’ve been a pro my whole life, especially when I got in the league. But with the young guys, bringing them along and showing them how to be a professional and how to handle business each and every day, it’ll go a long way.”