Mel Kiper Jr. backs Derek Stingley as top corner in NFL Draft, Todd McShay offers counter

ESPN’s NFL Draft experts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay had a back and forth on ESPN’s First Draft about their thoughts on former LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and how they evaluate him compared to other cornerbacks in this year’s draft class.

“Derek Stingley Jr., to me, is going to still be my number one corner,” Kiper said. “You look at him and you go back to 2019 … I’m looking at Stingley saying “is this guy supposed to drop because of two years with COVID and all the things that went along with that, that disappointing year at LSU?’ He had more past breakups, more interceptions that some of these guys didn’t have [in their entire] career.”

McShay responded, “Scouts and General Managers are frustrated, and to be quite honest, if you study some of those tapes from the last two year like the UCLA game was probably the lowest of the low, you know, you’re changing his pursuit angles to avoid contact, getting close, but then kind of pulling up and not mixing it up versus the run.

“We all know what it was in 2019. He’s a freshman on a national championship team making a run, and he plays outstanding as you would expect him to play his best ball. That tape is, as I’ve said before, compared to any year that you want with Sauce Gardner, especially this past year, which was his best tape, I’m taking Stingley.”

After this statement, Kiper noted that throughout his national title season, he had to guard former LSU star and current Cincinnati Bengals sensation Ja’Marr Chase in practice every single day. Stingley previously said that Chase was the toughest receiver he’s ever had to guard.

“I know he made my game better and I hope I did the same for him,” Stingley said.

ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper recently revealed his second mock draft, and he had Stingley going 12th overall to the Minnesota Vikings. Kiper expects Stingley to be the second corner off the board behind Cincinnati’s Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner. His LSU counterpart in Chase went 5th overall to the Miami Dolphins one year ago.

“Going into my second year and throughout my second year, I felt it was just as good as my freshman year,” Stingley said. “Freshman year I had over 90 targets. Sophomore year I had 30. If anything, that should just say I was doing my job.”

Quarterbacks simply didn’t want to throw his way, likely worried the ball-hawking defender would find a way to haul in the football or break the pass up. Give Chase credit for Stingley’s, as his ability to guard players man-to-man in the open field and going against Chase every single day is likely a contributing factor to his defensive prowess.

If you ask Stingley about his draft status, he’ll tell you the picks should be flipped. “I know myself and I know that when I’m at the best version of myself, I’m the greatest,” he said. One reason for the drop in draft status is due to his season-ending foot injury after playing just three games last season.