KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The natural cover skills.
The seemingly effortless acceleration and athleticism.
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How instinctively Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. tracks and catches the football, with soft hands that rival wide receivers’ grip and fundamentals.
The underrated, hard-nosed aspect of his game, and how he embraces tackling as a willing and capable thumper.
All skills and talent encouraged and developed by his father.
“My pops, doing drills with him as long as I can remember,” Stingley said when asked how he developed his ability to go get the football.
The catching is a skill few cornerbacks own. Stingley catches the ball as well or better than most wide receiver.
“I just know how to catch the football,” he said.
Retired All-Pro corner Antonio Cromartie has been watching Stingley’s game for years, believing in his skills long before many others started stating the obvious point that he’s the top all-around cornerback from his draft class over New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.
“Look at the way Sting carries himself, how he plays the game, he’s a true playmaker who has picked up his game every single year,” Cromartie told KPRC 2. “He has improved year in and year out. You’re talking about a kid with great ball skills, great cover skills and he can do anything you want to do at the cornerback position. He’s making tackles. He’s a lot more physical this year. He’s definitely someone who loves ball and has confidence in his abilities. That speaks a lot more to his love and passion for the game.
“Being great is having confidence in yourself and knowing you’re the best at what you’re doing, which helps elevate your game. He’s very enjoyable to watch. I loved watching him at LSU. He had the best ball skills of any player, of any receiver, his body control, the way he can put himself in position to go and make a play. You can’t teach that God-given talent, but he has learned other things and you see him flourish. You can see that father influence his dad puts on him, driving and pushing himself to be the best he can. When you got a dad in your corner who wants the best for you, you never get complacent.”
Named to the All-Pro squad for the first time, Stingley intercepted five passes during the regular season for the second year in a row.
He intercepted Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert twice during an AFC wild-card playoff victory last week as they picked him off four times overall as a defense, one more than his entire regular-season total.
It was Stingley who locked up Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill with a pair of interceptions on Tua Tagovailo passes he cut off to take the football away from an All-Pro who has led the NFL in receiving yards before.
Where does Stingley’s ability to own these contested catch situations come from? It all hails back to a belief that the football belongs to him, not the offense.
“I go back to as a kid playing the jump-ball game with all your friends, like you just try to compete when the ball is in the air,” Stingley said.
Three seasons into his NFL career, Stingley has intercepted 13 passes, including the postseason heading into an AFC divisional round playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
“Derek has done a great job all year of when people challenge him down the field, he has a great ability to track the football and go make the play,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Not many guys have that ability to track the football so a lot of guys play DB because they can’t catch it but Derek does a good job of playing with great awareness but also having great hands to finish the play and make teams pay.”
‘All-Pro Sting,’ Texans star corner achieves All-Pro status for first time
#Texans corner Derek Stingley Jr., on mentality he carries into any contested catch situation. He has seven total interceptions @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/Wm5kRwiwXG
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 16, 2025
One year after being snubbed for Pro Bowl consideration, Stingley Jr. parlayed a healthy breakthrough season to be named to his first Pro Bowl.
Stingley has 10 interceptions over the past two seasons, combined, with five picks each year.
Stingley had 18 passes defensed, second-most in the League. According to NextGenStats, Stingley allowed the lowest passer rating (56.9) and lowest completion percentage (46.7%) among cornerbacks who played at least 400 coverage snaps this season.
He is the first Texans cornerback in franchise history to earn All-Pro status. He is the second defensive player in team history to be named All-Pro, joining three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year selection J.J. Watt.
Stingley was joined on the All-Pro squad by Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain.
Unlike last year when he was sidelined with a hamstring injury, Stingley started every game and has a career-high 54 tackles, four tackles for losses, and tied his career-high with five interceptions for the second year in a row for the AFC South champions.
He allowed just 40 catches on 85 targets, a 45.1 completion percentage, for 382 yards and four touchdowns. Opposing quarterbacks had a 51.2 passer rating against him and just 249 air yards and 133 yards after the catch.
The Texans has 19 interceptions as a defense. And Stingley, rookie corner Kamari Lassiter and rookie safety Calen Bullock as well as safety Eric Murray, who returned an interception for a touchdown against Los Angeles, all are a threat to pick the football off.
“Sting’s pretty unique with the ball in his hands and catching,” defensive coordinator Matt Burke said. “He’s got great ball skills. We talk about having aggressive hands and going to get the ball and then pulling it away and pulling it down those things. I think you see that in the attacking the ball and the strength of hands. Sting’s got that patented. I don’t even know how he does that. That little thing over the shoulder, hook thing that he’s got. That’s his move. Those guys have strong hands and they’re really aggressive when the ball’s coming to them and I think the mindset of, ‘Man, that ball’s coming to me, I’m going to make a play on it.’ So, I think that’s the starting point.”
Stingley is eligible for a contract extension this offseason and is certainly deserving of a blockbuster payday, which the Texans are more than amenable to negotiating at the right time.
“He is probably the best athlete I have been around in my life,” Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “Ball skills, speed, strength, size and just someone who I have seen grow as a player. I am just very happy for him, especially having this type of year before I think he can renegotiate. I know he is about to get a bag and I am happy for him, he deserves it. That is not his motivation, which is dope, it is just being elite at football, and I think he is going to be great in this league for a long time.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
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