After the 2019 college football season, you’d have been hard pressed to ever find a better true freshman season than Derek Stingley Jr. had.

At just 18 years old, Stingley was arguably the best corner in the nation, and many even went as far to dub him “generational” because of it. Stingley was named a Consensus All-American and First Team All-SEC as a true freshman, and as we all know, played a huge part in LSU’s dominant national title run.

But what happened since then?

Stingley hasn’t been on the field much since 2019, and when he was, the on-field product really didn’t match what we saw during the 2019 season. In the past two years, Stingley has missed 10 games due to a leg injury and most recently re-aggravated a lingering foot injury.

Most recently, Stingley declined to participate in the NFL Combine, citing his recovery from a Lisfranc injury.

After 15 PBUs and six INTs as a true freshman, Stingley recorded just five pass breakups and zero interceptions in the 2 years combined since then. Box score stats are by no means a tell all factor in player production, but Stingley’s splits do a decent job at reflecting his decline since 2019.

When healthy, there’s no denying Stingley was the best player on several star-studded LSU defenses.

Stingley is the prototype DB every modern NFL team is looking for. His mixture of elite athleticism complemented by a deep “bag” of coverage techniques is on par with the top DB prospects we’ve seen in the past few years.

Stingley moves very well for his size and hardly gets beat one-on-one, even when he loses leverage off the line. His ball skills and recovery speed make up for developing skills in press coverage.

Where Stingley’s game falters is in run support and in the open field. While he’s shown the ability to disrupt plays in the backfield, he tends to be reluctant as a tackler. Stingley has missed 12 tackles in his career, with four of them coming in his last three games of college.

Whether Stingley’s tackling woes are an effort issue or a genuine flaw in his game, there’s room to be concerned, especially with his injury history. There’s a valid chance Stingley never becomes the physical corner that his frame suggests he is.

Derek Stingley has been through supreme highs and lows through his three-year college football career, and there’s certainly far more uncertainty surrounding his draft stock than anybody could’ve ever imagined.

When he’s on the field, Stingley is evidently CB1 in the 2022 draft, and you’d be hard pressed to think of an argument against it. Whether teams stray away from him remains to be seen, but Stingley’s stock likely sits in the top 15-20 range at the moment. The Seahawks, Vikings and Eagles are all potential best case landing spots for him come April.

Some team is going to take a gamble on Stingley next month, and the results could vary drastically. His pro day will be atop many people’s lists as the most anticipated showcase of any 2022 draft prospect, and with a strong performance there’s a solid chance he begins his climb back into top 10 range.