The Houston Texans decided to give coach Lovie Smith a highly touted cornerback to play in his patented Tampa 2 scheme.
Houston selected former LSU Tigers cornerback Derek Stingley with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft on Thursday.
The Texans were expected to go with former Cincinnati Bearcats cornerback Ahmad Gardner, but the Stingley pick makes some sense as he draws comparisons to Stephon Gilmore, who is a cornerback general manager Nick Caserio is familiar with from his work with the New England Patriots.
According to Mark Schofield from the Touchdown Wire, the selection of Stingley by the Texans warrants a B grade.
Is the injury history and sub-par play the past two seasons enough to overshadow what we saw in 2019? Probably not. If a team believes they can get that kind of performance from Stingley on a consistent level as he transitions to the league, they might have him as CB1 on their board. If, however, a team is uncertain whether they are getting the 2019 version or the 2020-2021 version, they might be more skeptical.
Stingley was limited to three games in 2021 due to a Linsfranc injury in his foot. If Stingley can prove he isn’t injury prone and also adapt to the NFL, the Texans may have a dynamic cornerback to star in Smith’s scheme.
