The Houston Texans drafted cornerback, Derek Stingley with their third overall selection in the 2022 NFL draft. Drafted with the intention of him taking over the secondary, are the expectations regarding his first season in the NFL too high?
The Houston Texans are in one of the more unique positions in the league. Some people think that the Texans could actually be a decent team this season. Others feel that the Texans are going to win somewhere between 0-4 games.
We have no idea who will be right until the end of the season, but what we do know is that they have many pieces to build around. They drafted Kenyon Green to help add in a well-rounded interior offensive linemen. They drafted Jalen Pitre to help add some great energy to their secondary. They drafted John Metchie to continue to round out their receiving room. But, the one draft pick they made that really is going to make a difference guaranteed is cornerback, Derek Stingley.
Derek Stingley was my cornerback one by a slight margin. Stingley, who was ranked and predicted to be the first overall pick in the 2022 draft after his rookie season at LSU, dealt with injuries in his final seasons in college. But, the ceiling regarding the player he can be is still way-too-high to count him out.
Going into his first season in the NFL, the Texans and the fans will be looking to see what he can do against the best in the world. Some of the notable names he will be facing this season include: Michael Pittman Jr., Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow, A.J. Brown, and many more talented players.
So the question to be asked is: Can he hold his own? Or are our expectations too high for a first year cornerback? Our answer- Too High.
Are the Expectations Around Derek Stingley Too High?
Derek Stingley played in 25 games for LSU and did well. But, as I said above, his skills were there but unfortunately- so were the injuries.
In his first season at LSU, he played in 15 games and finished with superb stats. Finishing the season with 31 tackles, 1.0 TFL, and six interceptions, he was the name on every teams radar. He was potentially going to be the best cornerback prospect since Jalen Ramsey which was the biggest of complement’s for a freshman cornerback.
But, as you all know, the next season, he had injuries deplete his season. Furthermore, he also missed a great majority of games this past season. So, trying to figure out if he can ever get back to the player he was is the big question. Right now, all we can do is wait and speculate.
My thoughts on the matter are that the Texans organization is putting incredibly high standards on a player who hasn’t played a full season since 2019. Additionally, he is about to be facing off against some of the best wide receivers in the world as a rookie.
When looking at the history of first year cornerbacks, the list of first year cornerbacks to make a stance as one of the best in the game is limited. The obvious answer to backup Stingley is Ramsey. But there was also Denzel Ward and Jaire Alexander who dominated in their first year in the league. But Stingley’s situation is different than theirs.
Facing off against guys like Jerry Jeudy, Tyreek Hill, A.J. Brown, Ceedee Lamb, Davante Adams, Amari Cooper, and that’s just to name a couple. I hate putting expectations on rookie cornerbacks. But how can they look at the list of receivers he’ll be facing and think that we aren’t setting him up for failure?
So, as I stated above, are the expectations too high? What do you think?