Green Bay Packers: 10 Nationally underrated players of the 2000s
By Hunter Noll
10. Na’il Diggs
Na’il Diggs spent his first six seasons in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. While there he was an above-average linebacker in the NFL. The problem however, was Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher — and London Fletcher too.
Diggs was a great linebacker in his time, but those are legitimate Hall-of-Famers right there. They were all pretty much in their prime at the time as well. It’s easy to get overshadowed when the talent level at the position is so high.
The Packers were probably more-than happy with Diggs however. His all-around solid play made him a prominent member of the defense for his six seasons with the team.
Diggs was strong against the pass. He recorded seven sacks and 20 pass deflections, as well as four interceptions, in his time in Green Bay. At 6-4, he had the size to matchup with tight ends. Meanwhile, his 4.55-second 40 time gave him enough speed to not get burnt either.
His bread-and-butter was against the run however. Diggs racked up 39 tackles-for-loss over those six seasons.
He never posted more than 87 tackles in a season, but was very reliable when it came to wrapping players up. This, along with a fantastic instinct to find the hole the running back was going through, is what led him to so many TFLs.
Diggs made the NFL All-Rookie team in 2000, but that’s as far as his personal achievements go. It’s important to remember however that this was during an era that saw plenty of Hall-of-Fame talent at the position. No, I’m not trying to argue that Diggs would be seen as a fringe HOFer had it not been for the overshadowing talent. He would, however, be remembered in a brighter light.