DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys selected Trevon Diggs, a cornerback out of Alabama with the 51st pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Cowboys use their second round selection on defense, after making one of the biggest splashes of day one, taking wide receiver CeeDee Lamb out of Oklahoma. The expectation is the remainder of the draft will be heavy on defense for the Cowboys.
Diggs was a second-team All-SEC performer in his senior year at Alabama, where he played cornerback after a position change from wide receiver earlier in his career.
At 6'1 and some change, Diggs is tall enough to man up against most any wide receiver in the league, and possesses the necessary speed to run with receivers, having recorded a 4.43 40-yard dash, according to NFLDraftScout.com. (Diggs did not run the 40 at the NFL Combine.)
Diggs is the younger brother of wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who played with the Vikings and now is a Buffalo Bill.
Diggs had three interceptions in his senior year at Alabama, and was a wide receiver earlier in his career. That may come in handy for a Cowboys defense that desperately needs to create more turnovers.
"100%, I feel that's what I'm best at," Diggs said. "That's something that I try to work on in practices. Catching the ball, getting interceptions, getting turnovers -- that's something they valued a lot at Alabama. With me playing wide receiver before, I can attack the ball... it's like a receiver playing corner."
One pick before the Cowboys the first cornerback went off the board in the second round, as the Chicago Bears selected Jaylon Johnson out of Utah.
One possible target for the Cowboys in the second round was Alabama safety Xavier McKinney, who went to the New York Giants at 36. The very next pick was another safety, as the Patriots chose Kyle Duggar out of Lenoir-Rhyne. And another safety -- one that had been regularly linked with the Cowboys in recent days -- went off the board, when the Browns selected Grant Delpit out of LSU. Continuing the second round run on safeties, Antoine Winfield out of Minnesota went with the very next pick, as Tampa Bay snagged him at 45.
More defense went off the board one pick later, as the Carolina Panthers selected Yetur Gross-Matos, a highly-touted defensive end out of Penn State. Then at #40, defensive tackle Ross Blacklock out of TCU went to the Texans.
Just prior to the Cowboys selection, there was a quick run on defensive ends, as Marlon Davidson out of Auburn went to Atlanta, and Seattle traded up to take Darrell Taylor out of Tennesee at 48.
