Turns out, the kid’s going to be just fine.
Roughly two months have passed since the Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs to a season-ending injury, and speculation followed about how well DaRon Bland might step in for him.
Given what we’ve learned from Bland in the time since, “step in” is hardly the right way to phrase it. With the chance to start every week in place of Diggs, the second-year corner is on a tear — and his predecessor has noticed.
Lest you think Diggs is caping for his young teammate, the numbers completely back it up. Through nine games and seven starts this year, Bland leads all cornerbacks with five interceptions. He notched his latest last week against the Giants, when he dropped off a crossing route and backtracked on a deep post, running the ball down and out-jumping Jalin Hyatt for the interception.
“He had it in his mind he was going to get it — he was the receiver on the play, not the defender,” said Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. “I think that’s a shift that came probably from Tre. In the early space, when the ball is in the air, I’m not going to knock it down, I’m going to make the play.”
Interceptions will get you paid in the NFL; just ask Diggs. But lest you think Bland’s success is all about picks, think again. His six pass breakups tie him for 10th in the league. Per Pro Football Focus, his coverage grade of 89.0 is second in the league among corners who have played at least 50% of their team’s snaps. His completion percentage allowed of 48.8% is fifth in the league, and he has the lowest passer rating allowed when targeted, at 32.8.
That’s a lot of ways to say that, on a defense full of impact players, Bland is developing into a star in his own right.
“We certainly miss Tre not being here, but knowing the torch is being passed — for this season. I’m sure Tre would say it’s just for this season the torch is being passed,” Quinn joked. “But DaRon has gladly taken that.”
To be fair to Bland, it’s not even fair to say he’s having a breakout year, since he managed five interceptions from the slot as a rookie last season.
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But that’s also the point. Bland excelling as the team’s nickel, playing 52% of the team’s overall snaps, is one thing. In his second season, he’s played 84% of the snaps — and managed a position change on top of it.
Bland started the season back in the nickel, but Diggs’ ACL tear before the Week 3 trip to Arizona changed everything. Before that, Bland had played 71 of 94 snaps in the slot. In the time since, he has moved almost exclusively outside, opposite Stephon Gilmore. In his seven starts since Diggs went down, he’s playing 90% of his snaps out wide and excelling.
It’s an exciting development for 2023, with Diggs unable to return. It might be even more exciting in the big picture.
Cornerback had been a problem spot in Dallas for a while, to put it mildly. Since the heyday of Deion Sanders in the late 90s, this team had produced only two Pro Bowl seasons from the corner spot –— Mike Jenkins in 2009 and Byron Jones in 2018.
Starting with his 11-pick effort in 2021, Diggs has already produced two of those himself. And while it is premature to call Bland a Pro Bowler, he’s certainly playing at that level with roughly a month until the Pro Bowl rosters are announced.
Diggs, who will be 10 months removed from his injury when training camp starts in the summer, is 25 with five years remaining on the massive contract he signed this year. Bland is 24 with two years still to play on his rookie deal.
Even if it’s not in place right now, the Cowboys seem to have stumbled into what could potentially become their best cornerback duo in decades.
“I think that’s one of the most unique things about the two of them is that they have this innate ability to find it, to track it and to come down with it,” Quinn said. “Those are the things that make them special.”
The fun part will be figuring out what to do next. Gilmore hasn’t been bad, though he is on the final year of his contract at the age of 33. Jourdan Lewis is also in a contract year after signing two different deals over his seven years in Dallas.
This could be an interesting re-launching point for the front office. Bland can play both inside and out, but he seems to have emerged as the boundary corner they were hoping second-round draft pick Kelvin Joseph would become. That leaves the Cowboys with much less work to do, finding a third capable starter via free agency or the draft.
It’s not hard to imagine a Day 1 or Day 2 draft pick competing for a job in the slot with the likes of Eric Scott Jr., Israel Mukuamu or even a re-signed Lewis, while Bland and Diggs handle the rest.
This is always the proposed silver lining of an injury: the chance for the “next man up” to make his mark. DaRon Bland has done that, and the ramifications are exciting for the present and the future.
