Houston Texans build around Davis Mills in 2022 7-Round NFL Mock Draft
By Pablo Rosero
Round 1, 3rd Overall: Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU
With the top two EDGE rushers in Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux off the board, the choice here comes down to LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr or Alabama’s Evan Neal. Here I went with Stingley.
The Houston Texans already have Tunsil at left tackle and could use help at right tackle, but the team’s offense moved the ball better than their defense was able to stop teams. It comes down to preference here and I think Stingley has a chance to be one of the special corners in the league.
Stingley has started for LSU since his true freshman season and was the team’s best corner regardless of having future NFL pros in the secondary. It likely helped that Stingley would have to practice against both Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase.
He won’t be able to come in and make this secondary elite, but it would give the Texans a shutdown corner to pair with Lonnie Johnson Jr and Justin Reid in the secondary. The Texans defense needs more help right now than the offense and without either of the top EDGE on the board, the team will likely hope an EDGE in the second tier falls to them later in the draft.
For now, the team takes Stingley and gets their shut-down corner.