Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. finally had the breakout season we have all been waiting for, and a big reason for that is because he actually stayed healthy.
Stingley avoided injury for the first time in his three-year NFL career, and the results were incredible, as he racked up 54 tackles, five interceptions and 18 passes defended en route to a Pro Bowl appearance and a First-Team All-Pro selection.
What's more, Stingley was also the only player in the league who was targeted 70 times that allowed a catch rate of under 50 percent.
That is just an absolutely dominant year from Stingley, who was clearly vastly talented, but never got the chance to display is over a full season.
The 23-year-old, who played his collegiate football at LSU, was selected by the Texans with the third overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
A hamstring injury limited Stingley to just nine games during his rookie campaign, and during his time on the field that year, he was impressive, logging 43 tackles, a sack, a pick and five passes defended.
Then, in 2023, the Baton Rouge, La. native once again dealt with hamstring issues and appeared in only 11 contests as a result. Once again, Stingley looked good when he was healthy, finishing with 39 stops, five interceptions and 13 passes defended.
All it took was one fully healthy campaign for Stingley to establish himself as one of the best cornerbacks in football.
We'll see what Stingley does for an encore in 2025.
