WVU football corner Chams Diagne brings much-needed size to the secondary
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia football's corner Chams Diagne isn't a normal corner. He's 6-foot-3 and has a long wingspan. The average height of an NFL corner is 5-foot-11 for some perspective.
Last season, WVU had smaller corners that really struggled. There were bright spots, like Michael Coats Jr., who is fighting to make the Cleveland Browns roster, but even he said it was tough being a smaller corner in the Big 12. Rich Rodriguez wanted to add more size, even at the corner position, and that focused around Diagne.
But, at some point, the size might hinder a defender. It's a lot more body to carry around, which could make you slower and less agile, hurting you against twitchy, fast receivers. Diagne doesn't think that'll be an issue.
“I think I’m a very capable big corner," Diagne said. “I just use my size to my advantage. I can shadow receivers a little bit better than a smaller corner, but I definitely think my size is the advantage."
Diagne's ability has been doubted his whole career. He started as a walk-on at Georgia State, and realized it wasn't going to work out and transferred. But Diagne didn't transfer to another Division I school and instead took a step back, enrolling at Independence Community College.
It was a blow to ego.
"Transferring from Division I to junior college kind of plays with your mental," Diagne said. "You question yourself a little bit, but I think I took it the right way."
Diagne played one year at JUCO. He appeared in eight games and racked up five tackles, including three solo tackles. It was enough to earn a college scholarship offer, including from his former school at Georgia State.
"It was honestly crazy," Diagne said. "I kind of went back to the same faces that I was there with before. I was welcomed with open arms, though."
This time around, Diagne made an immediate impact. He played 10 games his first season, and another 10 in Year 2. His second year, Diagne really made the best of his time on the field, and even started in six games. Diagne had 25 tackles, three pass breakups, and picked off Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons in the first quarter. Against Ole Miss and James Madison, who were both College Football Playoff teams, Diagne had career-high tackle games.
Diagne thought he did enough in two years to earn a Power Four offer, and decided to take the risk to see if there was an opportunity out there.
"I think it was just betting on myself," Diagne said. "I came off a pretty good season last season.”
Diagne took an official visit to WVU and was immediately hooked. Being 6-foot-3, Diagne uses his size to be physical, and that's what Rodriguez expected him to be for the Mountaineers.
"Just like his philosophy in football," Diagne said. "The hard edge culture. That's something that really stood out. I want to be a part of that because that's going to help elevate my game in the long run."
Diagne seems to be the talk of the offseason after being an underrated addition at the time. The size really drew Rodriguez to Diagne. Corners coach Rod West said having a bigger frame makes it easier to get off blocks in space, come down with more 50/50 balls and most importantly, open-field tackling, since they're one of the last lines of defense. Diagne had 31 tackles over two seasons at Georgia State at the corner position.
West said he's never had a corner as big as Diagne.
"Never had a safety that big either, when I was coaching safeties," West said.
Big corners aren't a completely new concept. There are bigger corners who had immense success in the NFL. Mel Blount stands out in the older generations, and Diagne watches a lot of Richard Sherman tape, who is also 6-foot-3.
It sounds like taking a risk on Diagne was a smart move. He's had a strong spring and fall, and looks to be WVU's CB1 going into the season. If you don't think so, Diagne doesn't care what you think. His only doubter is himself.
"I’ve always been about proving myself right, not proving other people wrong," Diagne said. "I know I can compete on this level, so I took that gamble on myself. Now it's just trying to prove myself right again."