LSU corner Derek Stingley Jr. selected No. 3 by Houston Texans in NFL Draft
AFC South team make Baton Rouge native the Tigers' highest-ever drafted defensive back.
Derek Stingley Jr. will begin his professional career just four hours west on Interstate 10.
The Houston Texans selected the LSU cornerback No. 3 overall Thursday evening on the opening night of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Stingley signed with the hometown Tigers as the nation's top-ranked prospect out of The Dunham School in Baton Rouge in 2019 and was an immediate start on the program's national championship team that year.
The 6-1, 190-pound athlete earned All-American honors as a freshman and discussion as one of the top defenders in college football.
He started all 15 games that season and finished with team highs of 21 passes defenses, 15 breakups and six interceptions, as well as 38 tackles, including one for loss.
Stingley — like LSU as a whole — was limited by coaching changes, injuries and other circumstances during the rollercoaster two years that followed.
He appeared in and started 10 games during that span with five passes defensed, two forced fumbles and 35 tackles, including six for loss.
His NFL Draft stock appeared to waver slightly as a result, with the many rankings lists and mock drafts projecting him potentially slipping into the early teens.
But a full medical clearance in March and an impressive Pro Day performance earlier this month, including a 4.37-second 40-yard dash and 38 1/2-inch vertical leap, helped answer some questions and begin reversing that trend.
Stingley was the first defensive back off the board, following the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions taking defensive ends Travon Walker of Georgia and Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan, respectively.
The Tigers have now had at least one player selected in each NFL Draft since 1994 and a first-round selection in each of the past four classes.
Houston did not list an LSU player on its current roster.
