LIVE BLOG: The latest from the NFL Draft
DRAFT GRADES: Sheil Kapadia’s report cards
BIG BOARD: Best available players remaining
The Houston Texans have needs at every position, but few are as pronounced as the team’s lack of depth at corner. Last season, Houston allowed the league’s 10th highest completion rate (66.5 percent) and the fourth-most yards per attempt (7.95). No one pick can fix this hole, but drafting cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. out of LSU with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft is as aggressive of a move as the Texans could make.
Advertisement
With all of the top offensive linemen still on the board, as well as Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, Texans GM Nick Caserio decided to make Stingley the first Round 1 choice of his tenure. The cornerback gives the Texans defense something it was sorely lacking in 2021: star potential.
Big board ranking: Stingley was the No. 14 player on Dane Brugler’s big board and Brugler’s third-ranked corner. Brugler ranked Cincinnati’s Ahmad Gardner and Washington’s Trent McDuffie ahead of Stingley at the position. Gardner went a pick later to the Jets. And Thibodeaux, Brugler’s No. 8 overall player and top available edge rusher at the time, went fifth overall to the Giants.
Introduction: Stingley arrived at LSU as the No. 1 player in the country out of Baton Rouge and was maybe the best corner in college football as an 18-year-old freshman on a national championship team. He was like an analytical football robot built in a lab — wise beyond his years and physically dominant over his peers. He caused no problems. He was a perfect example. Before Stingley even played a game at LSU, an NFL general manager told the Tigers staff he would be a first-round pick if he declared for the draft that summer. It was widely agreed he’d be the first corner taken if eligible for the 2020 NFL Draft.
Since then, though, Stingley became a superstar talent surrounded by questions and concerns. He played in just 10 games in his final two seasons at LSU, sidelined by a leg injury and Lisfranc surgery.
How he fits: Stingley’s 2019 campaign was a showing in expert-level cornerback play, and Houston is betting that level of play will return with good health. He is a dominant defensive back in press man coverage; it’ll be interesting to see whether Lovie Smith is undergoing a schematic change from his soft zone coverage scheme, or banking on Stingley’s ball skills to generate turnovers by jumping routes and playing the quarterback. — Diante Lee
Advertisement
Second guess? As mentioned above, the gap between the first and second tiers at corner makes it understandable that the Texans used the first of their two first-round picks on the position instead of edge rusher or offensive line. So it really comes down to whether the Texans picked the right corner. Time will tell whether Stingley or Gardner becomes the better pro.
Rookie impact: The Texans aren’t going to contend in Stingley’s rookie year, but their ideal formula for winning will look similar to last season’s: Protect the ball with a run-heavy offense and force turnovers on defense. Stingley’s ball skills (32 total passes defensed and interceptions in 25 games at LSU) were likely a big selling point for Smith and the Texans.
Depth-chart impact: Outside of Stingley, the other corners who figure to be at the top of the Texans depth chart are Desmond King, Tavierre Thomas and free agent addition Steven Nelson. If the rookie lives up to his billing, one of those veterans should see playing time dwindle.
Fast evaluation: In a draft lacking a lot of top-end talent, the Texans are taking a big swing in Stingley. He’s just the second corner in this century to go in the top three, after the Lions took Jeff Okudah out of Ohio State in 2020. If injuries continue to hamper Stingley, as they have for the past two seasons, then this will be an easy pick to second-guess. But a team with a long way to go in a rebuild should be betting on upside at premium positions.
(Photo: Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)