In 2020, the Buffalo Bills made a bold move, acquiring Stefon Diggs from Minnesota to help Josh Allen take the next step in his third season.
The move, along with improved mechanics from the quarterback, paid off: Allen exploded, passing for 4,544 yards, led the league in success rate, saw his completion percentage go from 58.8 to 69.2, and made his first Pro Bowl. Diggs was electric, generating 127 catches and 1,535 yards, both of which led the league, and eight touchdowns to earn first-team All-Pro honors. Diggs gave Allen a true No. 1 target who could win against any coverage and bail him out of bad balls.
Davis Webb was a practice-squad quarterback for the Bills that season. He had a front-row seat to see just how big a role Diggs played in helping elevate Allen to the MVP QB he became.
Now the offensive coordinator and play-caller for the Denver Broncos, Webb sees some similarities between the Bills' trade for Diggs and Denver's acquisition of Jaylen Waddle this offseason.
"He's good. He's a really good player," he said Thursday of Waddle. "There are some similarities when I was with Josh Allen going into Year 3, similar to Bo (Nix) going into Year 3, and we traded for Stefon Diggs. That was a good year. That was a good two-year run in '20 and '21 when I was together with them. Just seeing the growth from both players, that time, there's some similarities of what's starting to happen here.
"It doesn't mean it's going to. We've got a long way to go, but, man, he's good, and I've just enjoyed the person and watching him work. He's a blessing to be around. He is a multiplier; he is a thermostat, like very, very good. That's a credit to (general manager) George (Paton), that's a credit to Sean (Payton). We don't bring in bad people here. We've got really good players and great team chemistry."
Waddle has made head-turning plays during OTAs, displaying the ability to win and make plays after the catch. Of course, doing so in non-contact sessions is much different than for 17 real games, but the glimpse is there.
The Broncos offense went into lulls far too often last season. The belief is that Waddle, with his ability to beat man or zone coverages and the speed to blast past defenders, will help eliminate those ineffective stretches. The former first-rounder has the talent to re-energize the offense and give Nix a go-to target.
The potential Diggs-type effect Waddle can have on the offense is why the Broncos didn't shy away from paying the first-round-plus-some price tag for the WR. If Waddle can push Nix's evolution even further in Year 3, it will be well worth the cost.
