Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs Wants More Man Coverage. Here's Why He Shouldn't.

• Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs has struggled this season along with the rest of his defense.
• Diggs believes that one of the problems is an over-reliance on zone defense by defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
• Based on Diggs' career metrics, he should be asking for even more zone coverage, and no man coverage at all.

The Dallas Cowboys currently rank dead last in FTN's Defensive DVOA rankings by a fairly significant margin, so if defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus can hang his hat on anything positive these days, we'll assume that he'll take it.

This week, the beleaguered Eberflus was challenged by cornerback Trevon Diggs to call more man coverage — possibly because it's tough to call any less. Through the first four weeks of the season, the Cowboys have played man coverage just 5.9% of the time, and in man coverage, they've allowed six catches on 11 targets for 95 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, an opponent passer rating of 113.8, and an opponent EPA per target of -0.44. Basically, anybody throwing the ball against the Cowboys' man defense turns into 2007 Tom Brady.

Still, Diggs — Dallas' most prominent defender now that Micah Parsons is plying his trade in Green Bay — wants his new coach to run more of it up the flagpole, to see who salutes.

“I wouldn’t say [zone coverage is] more complex, but when you’re playing man, you’re right there with the person," Diggs said this week. "As the weeks have been coming, [playing zone] has been way easier, way easier. I feel like we’re on our way to getting the ball and being on our way to making plays.

"At the end of the day, it’s not about what I want. It’s not about the other people. It’s about what the whole defense wants, what coach wants, what coach thinks is best for us to win. And if he feels like this gives us our best chance to win, we gotta play it and just play it to the best of our ability. It’s not to point fingers at nobody. It ain’t nobody’s fault. We just gotta execute.”

Diggs also said that the current schemes are about "being comfortable being uncomfortable."

Every cornerback has his own favorite coverages for all kinds of reasons. But in Diggs' case, the perception could not be further away from the reality. Diggs may believe that he's better in man coverage than zone, and that man coverage is easier for him, but that is absolutely not the case.

Last season, the man/zone splits were pretty stark.

In man coverage in 2024, Diggs allowed nine completions on 15 targets for 104 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, an opponent passer rating of 115.6, and an opponent EPA per target of +0.13.

In zone coverage in 2024, Diggs allowed seven completions on 17 targets for 98 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, an opponent passer rating of 55.5, and an opponent EPA per target of +0.04.

Even at his best before injuries took their toll over the last two seasons, Diggs was better in zone than in man because in man, he would allow lapses both at the line of scrimmage when playing aggressively, and at the turn of the route tree. Diggs is at his best when he can peel off in coverage pre-snap, keep everything underneath before the turn to run, and be more bold at the catch point with safety help.

The best man and match cornerbacks are able to stick with receivers from the line of scrimmage and throughout the route — Derek Stingley Jr. of the Houston Texans is the gold standard these days. Trevon Diggs is not, nor has he ever been. That doesn't make him a bad or incomplete player; it's just that he's better at other things.