Was Diggs the canary in the mine?

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@Nichelle said:
All of the reactions to the tweets drove me as crazy as the actual tweets. I wanted him here because he lifts the level of play, demonstrates a lot of passion on the field and is simply a highly skilled player. I was at the place where I just ignored the tweets. Once he decided he no longer wanted to be here and was going to do what it took to leave, then it was time to move on. The Vikings did. I have too.

Same. 

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The Vikings are not a bad team this year, because Diggs left, but because of WHY he left.  I didn't agree at the time with how Diggs forced himself out, but as we continue to see how inept Cousins is at running a play unless every circumstance plays out perfectly for him, I can understand how Diggs did not want to waste the next 3 years of his prime playing with a QB who was not going to get him the ball.  

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@Vanguard83 said:
yap, yap, yap......yeah....in week one he had 3 catches for 30..something.
Is the ghost of Diggs past gonna solve our O line issues?

He wanted out, He’s gone, lets move forward and fix what we CAN control

Diggs did not want to settle as 1A and 1B with Theilen.  Like any exceptional receiver, he wanted to be solely number one...

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@Vanguard83 said:
all “real playmakers” want the ball.  Diggs wants the ball, Theilen wants the ball, Rudy / Irv, Bisi, Mattison, Cook......every real competitor worth their salt wants the ball.

a long sustained ground game controls the clock, wins TOP, and keeps your defense rested.  The ground game comes up front. you need some mean, nasty, mouth-breathin, knuckle-draggin, blood-spittin, maulers up front.  get inside some pads, leverage some spines, and open a GD hole!  

someone on the line needs to step up and say “run behind me!”.  Someone on the O line needs to step the F up!

I don't think it's a simple matter of some or even all our offensive linemen making some mental or intensity decision to "step up". If we had some OL who had proven credentials and/or had played well in the past and were in a slump, I would agree with you. But the Vikings DO NOT HAVE THE HORSES. If you had 3 starting offensive linemen who were super aggressive and intense but didn't have NFL ability or skill, could they just "step up" and succeed in the NFL? Outside of Brian O'Neill, we don't have any studs. Reiff was a competent, maybe above-average, OT for his first few years in Detroit (playing on a unit with more skill ability alongside him), but he has declined here. And O'Neill can't cover the other 3 positions.

Yeah, Diggs can't pass protect - but he runs superb routes and has elite quickness so he can get open faster so the linemen don't have to protect as long. He doesn't carry the ball but he pulls a safety and CB downfield on running plays so the lanes are less crowded. And yes I love Adam Thielen but he sure benefitted from having Diggs pull so much attention away from him.
That long sustained ground game has been Zimmer's dream since he got here. But it's just a dream because the Vikings have never achieved it, and yet he keeps acting like it has been the key to success. Diggs earned a lot of the victories in Zimmer's record here, and had to listen to Zim talk about how he loves to run and hates to pass and wished all games could have only 12 pass attempts. It's not just that Diggs wanted to play for a team that passed more - he wanted to play for a coach that acknowledged the passing game was the key to most of their victories.

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@Vanguard83 said:
love Diggs as much as any player on the Vikings, but if you dont want to work for the franchise that drafts, coaches, plays, then pays you, and you start cryptic shit about “new beginnings” and “truth to all rumors”....then you have to ask the guy DIRECTLY...”Do you want to be here?” If the answer is anything OTHER than yes, or he whines about the number of touches or whatever, then get what you can for him and part ways.

The Vikings did just that.

He wanted out, Bills were prepared to pony up draft capital, bye.

Yeah, but this line of thinking doesn't apply to a star NFL player the same way it would to "Kevin" in accounts receivable. People with regular 9-5 jobs should probably just STFU and realize they're a cog in a system and they don't have to be there. I think you'd agree there's a big difference.

The Diggs stuff annoyed me, but not for the reasons this board was upset. I hated that we were most-likely going to lose our star WR. But I never questioned his mindset. He was unhappy (with good reason maybe), and found a way to voice his displeasure. I wouldn't have used social media, but I don't fault him for being a squeaky wheel.

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He spoke up about issues that were making the team a loser.
He walked out for a couple days after they ignored him because coach egomaniac always knows best.
They fined him but the result I think was some movement internally and the rest of the season went better.
Coach egomaniac got him run off to Buffalo eventually
Here we are sucking big time while he's doing well in his new home.
All's well that ends well... for Stephon Diggs.  Not so much for the clown crew at TCO.

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@PSBLAKE said:

@Vikergirl said:
I think the personal element is that Thielen got an apology after calling Cousins out and Diggs didn't. I think Diggs wanted a more modern offense than what is in play here. 

yeah that is a great point.  It is amazing Diggs had a career year but still seemed to see the deep issues with the offense with KC leading it.  Diggs did seem to motivate and bail out the team in the Denver game last year.  


I wonder if that game was a tippung point for him?

 

Lots ot of threads and articles with  lots of  opinions.

Has anyone specifically opined that Diggs may have indeed left because the Vikings went hurry up the 2nd half of the Broncos and dominated. (without Thielen). 



On paper, this personnel group created  mismatches.

Thielen  Diggs- can both work the entire field,  defenses had to account for them in  each third of the field. 

Rudy-  6'6 260

Smith Jr- showed he could beat coverage last year.

Cook/Matison  - can both Block, Catch and Run.


After the success of dismantling the #7 NFL defense in 2019, the Vikings didn't go "hurry-up"  the rest of the season (except for normal circumstances.)

Me thinks  that's why Diggs wanted out.

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Coaches coach and players play

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Was Diggs the canary in the mine?No, we fans are the canary’s, & after 60 years in this mine, oxygen levels are quite low... 

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@Mattyman said:



After the success of dismantling the #7 NFL defense in 2019, the Vikings didn't go "hurry-up"  the rest of the season (except for normal circumstances.)

Me thinks  that's why Diggs wanted out.

This is essentially what I have been saying: that the Vikings repeatedly had success when they went to an aggressive passing offense (even the bulk of the 2017 season really), but every time Mike Zimmer acted like he regretted letting his team "lower itself" to a passing attack, spoke like it was just luck that passing the ball had worked ("horseshoe up his pants"), and then sang the praises of his true love, the ball-control run-first offense, and tried to go back to running. Zimmer won't show appreciation for the passing game or commit to it.