When the Vikings called Maryland receiver Stefon Diggs Saturday to select him in the fifth round of the NFL Draft, he wasn't even watching the draft. He was watching football.
More specifically, he was watching Maryland game film to critique himself.
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"I was watching to continue to get better," Diggs told Perform Media on Saturday. "I try to do anything I can to quicken things up. I don't just study my opponent, I study myself. It's something you have to do to get better."
Diggs and his family watched the draft Friday night and were left disappointed when he did not get selected. So, Saturday morning, his mother went to work, and he waited by the phone and put on a Maryland game, which he watched with a couple of friends.
Then his phone finally rang.
"It was a great moment," Diggs said. "I was just waiting, just waiting and waiting. Finally, they called. I'm blessed with a good opportunity, and I'm just happy."
While Diggs has never met Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, he knows of him and realizes he's going to a team that is trending upward. Bridgewater won the NFL Pepsi Rookie of the Year award after throwing for 2,919 yards with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 12 starts. The former Louisville quarterback helped the Vikings improve from a 5-10-1 record to 7-9 last year.
Diggs adds versatility to the team, with speed to stretch defenses and the play-making ability to be a threat in the return game. He is also one of the toughest players in the draft, finishing a game last November against Penn State with a lacerated spleen. He missed three games, then came back to catch 10 passes for 138 yards against Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Diggs told Perform Media last month it was important for him to play in the bowl game to show there was no drop-off.
“I know I’m not the biggest guy or the fastest guy, but you’ve got to bring something to the table that someone else is not,” Diggs said April 2. “I love football too much.”
Diggs caught 62 passes for 792 yards and five scores to lead the Terrapins last season, despite missing those three games, and finished his career with 150 receptions for 2,227 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Diggs, who ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the combine, joins a Vikings receiving corps led by 2013 first-round pick Cordarrelle Patterson. Following a breakout rookie season, when he returned a pair of kicks for touchdowns and had 45 catches for 469 yards and four scores, Patterson's sophomore season did not go as well, with 33 catches for 384 yards and just one touchdown.
"As a player, I'm going to do everything I can to help the organization as a whole," Diggs said Saturday. "On the field, off the field, I'm going to do everything in my power. I think I'll fit in great."