Derek Stingley Jr.
Houston TexansModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 17 games
Draft & College
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Comps
STM Take
2024 1st-team All-Pro plus 2024 Pro Bowl plus three straight tier 1 finishes (#1, #2, #6) plus the 2019 LSU CFP National Championship establishes Stingley as one of the best CBs of his generation. The LSU 3rd overall draft pedigree plus the multi-year STTM dominance puts him on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory. The 2026 question is whether Stingley wins his first DPOY or whether the structural top-5 ceiling continues.
Stingley came out of LSU as the Houston Texans' 1st-round pick (3rd overall) in 2022 after winning the 2019 CFP National Championship as the Tigers' freshman starter and earning unanimous All-American honors. He made the 2024 Pro Bowl and earned 2024 1st-team All-Pro recognition. His STTM career runs tier 1 (#1) in 2023, tier 1 (#2) in 2024, and tier 1 (#6) in 2025, three straight top-6 STTM finishes.
Strengths
- 2024 1st-team All-Pro plus three straight tier 1 STTM finishes (#1, #2, #6) plus 2019 LSU CFP National Championship freshman starter establishes top-3 CB résumé.
- LSU 3rd overall draft pedigree plus the unanimous All-American honors gives him the highest-pedigree CB foundation of his class.
Concerns
- Houston's broader defensive identity around the C.J. Stroud offensive priority puts continued Stingley production partly outside his control.
- Multi-year LSU and pro injury history (rookie season interrupted, multiple games missed) puts continued durability question on every projection.
What to watch: Whether Stingley wins his first DPOY in 2026 plus holds tier 1 (top 3), the threshold for closing the elite CB career case.