2022 NFL Mock Draft: Edge Rushers Fly Off The Board, 3 QBs In Round 1
By Evan Bachman
2. New York Jets: Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU
The Jets are a roster with a lot of needs on both sides of the ball, so there’s multiple directions they could go. I think they’ll ultimately just go with whoever they view as the best player on the board. Luckily for them they have multiple blue-chip caliber prospects to chose from.
Derek Stingley Jr. certainly qualifies as a blue-chip caliber prospect as he is easily one the best players in the draft and on top of that he plays corner, which is a position that is very valuable in today’s NFL.
He possesses all the physical tools you could possibly want in a corner as he’s got great size (6-foot-2), he’s very athletic, and he moves quite fluidly. What makes him truly special as a corner however are his rare ball skills, and as a freshman at LSU he picked off six passes and broke up a total of 15, which are numbers you almost never see, especially from a freshman playing in the SEC.
Stingley Jr. had a medical procedure on his foot earlier in the season and doesn’t have a timetable for his return. While it’s unfortunate that he got injured obviously, the good news for him is that it won’t really affect his draft stock as he’s already proved himself as a high-level player.