Stefon Diggs understands and appreciates the greatness of other quarterbacks in the NFL -- he just wants a little love for his guy.
Diggs backed his quarterback, Josh Allen, during a Thursday appearance on Good Morning Football, saying he believes Allen's emergence in 2020 isn't a one-year thing. As the man catching most of his passes, he would probably know.
"I feel like I had a different view from everybody," Diggs explained. "He had an elite year, for me, coming from my perspective, seeing him grind, seeing the time he put in. Of course, he's going to get lost in the traffic a little bit just because of those guys. People love Lamar Jackson, people love Aaron Rodgers, great talents, guys that have been playing some good ball as of a couple years. Aaron Rodgers' whole career he's been playing a hell of a game. He's one of those guys that will definitely go into the Hall of Fame, and my guy will get lost a little bit.
"But he played some elite football and I just want people to appreciate it, appreciate some good quarterback play. Because he had a hell of a year and people are just going to like, don't just forget about him now. He had a hell of a year. Please consider him as your MVP because he is mine."
Allen absolutely should be Diggs' MVP. In his first season with the rocket-armed quarterback, Diggs set career highs in receptions (127) and receiving yards (1,535), leading the entire NFL in both categories. The Bills won 13 games, earned the conference's No. 2 seed and reached the AFC Championship Game before falling to the defending champion Chiefs.
A year earlier, Diggs caught half as many passes and still made the playoffs in his final season with the Vikings, but fell in the Divisional Round to the eventual NFC champion 49ers. The loss stung, and two straight road playoff losses in two seasons -- with the second coming as part of a team that truly believed it had the makings of a Super Bowl champion -- left Diggs posting through the pain.
"I feel like I'm a champion. In my mind, in my heart I feel like I'm a champion. I feel like I'm a winner," Diggs said. "And that day I didn't win. That day I didn't win. I wanted to at least acknowledge that the team that we played was better than us, and have the utmost respect for them, be happy for them. I'm no hater, in no way, shape or form. I don't hate on no team, I don't hate on anybody. So for me, just showing my respect, and my appreciation for where I've been, how good of a year this was, and that I'll be back.
"For me, I always feel like I'm a champion, I always feel like I'm a winner. Losing in that moment made me feel otherwise. I was just going to embrace it, embrace that we didn't do enough to win and congratulate the team on the other side. They played a better game than us."
Diggs' role wasn't quite as prominent in Minnesota, and he certainly wasn't playing with a quarterback with a ceiling as high as Allen's, making his chances of actually becoming a champion more likely with Buffalo. If the Bills keep at their current pace, they'll be back for more deep playoff runs in the future.
Who knows? Allen might even win an MVP -- just not this year.
