Player
Derek Stingley Jr.
CB · Texans
An arc card shows whether a player's trajectory is up, flat, or declining — for Stingley the arc is steep enough that his early-career reputation is now the wrong frame to use.
Rookie year was a question mark. Year 2 onward he's been a different player.
TrendStingley defensive production by year
| Year | PDs | Tackles | FF | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5 | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 13 | 37 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | 18 | 52 | 0 | 4 |
| 2025 | 15 | 36 | 1 | 1 |
Pass defenses per season
| Season | PDs |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2023 | 13 |
| 2024 | 18 |
| 2025 | 15 |
The #3 overall pick in 2022 had 5 PDs as a rookie — quiet enough that the bust narrative was already forming. Then the line broke: 13, 18, 15 PDs the last three years. The 2024 spike (18 PDs, 4 TFL) is when he turned into the corner Houston drafted him to be.
Why it matters. An arc card shows whether a player's trajectory is up, flat, or declining — for Stingley the arc is steep enough that his early-career reputation is now the wrong frame to use.
33 PDs across 2024-25 — 2nd-most by any DB in the NFL.
RareNFL pass-defense leaders, 2024-25 combined (DBs)
| Rank | Player | PDs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Jackson | 35 |
| 2 | Derek Stingley Jr. | 33 |
| 3 | Quinyon Mitchell | 29 |
| T-4 | Marlon Humphrey | 28 |
| T-4 | Denzel Ward | 28 |
| T-6 | Alontae Taylor | 27 |
| T-6 | Riley Moss | 27 |
| T-6 | Nate Wiggins | 27 |
| T-6 | Kamari Lassiter | 27 |
Among all DBs over the last two regular seasons, only Mike Jackson has more pass defenses — and Jackson plays for a defense that gets thrown at more often. Stingley's 33 PDs on a Texans defense that limits volume is the more impressive sample.
Why it matters. PD volume is a direct measure of how often a corner is trusted to win one-on-one in the open field — 2nd in the NFL over two seasons says opposing coordinators can't avoid throwing his way.
The 2022 CB class: Sauce gets the buzz, but Stingley has been right there the whole time.
Comparison2022 CB class — career regular-season production
| Player | PDs | Tackles |
|---|---|---|
| Riq Woolen | 53 | 194 |
| Derek Stingley Jr. | 51 | 166 |
| Sauce Gardner | 50 | 203 |
| Trent McDuffie | 34 | 239 |
| Kaiir Elam | 8 | 111 |
On career PDs Stingley sits at 51 — second in the 2022 class, ahead of Sauce Gardner (50) and just behind Woolen (53). The narrative was that he was the riskiest pick of the group; the production says he's right in the middle of that elite trio. Since 2023 (removing his quiet rookie year), he leads the class with 46 PDs — ahead of Woolen (37), Gardner (30), and McDuffie (27).
Why it matters. Putting Stingley's stats alongside his classmates reframes the Sauce vs. Stingley debate with actual data — since the bust talk faded he has quietly outpaced the DPOY winner.
4 PDs in a single game vs Denver — the night the bust talk died.
MilestoneStingley top single-game performances
| Season | Week | Opp | PDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 13 | vs DEN | 4 |
| 2024 | 13 | vs JAX | 3 |
| 2025 | 10 | vs JAX | 2 |
| 2025 | 9 | vs DEN | 2 |
| 2025 | 2 | vs TB | 2 |
| 2024 | 15 | vs MIA | 2 |
His 2023 Week 13 vs Denver game (4 PDs, 1 tackle) is the only 4-PD game of his career — and it came in the year he started shedding the rookie-year reputation. 3 PDs vs Jacksonville in 2024 is the second high-water mark.
Why it matters. Single-game peaks reveal a player's ceiling — Stingley's 4-PD game is the kind of performance that resets how scouts and coordinators think about a player going forward.
His 2023 INT/PD conversion was 38% — video-game territory for an elite shutdown corner.
AnomalyStingley INTs by year
| Year | INTs | PDs | INT/PD ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 5 | 20% |
| 2023 | 5 | 13 | 38% |
| 2024 | 5 | 18 | 28% |
| 2025 | 4 | 15 | 27% |
Most elite corners convert ball-hawk plays at 15-25%. Stingley's 2023 season — 5 INTs on 13 PDs (38%) — was the kind of rate you see from safeties in zone coverage, not a press-man corner. He's settled into the 27-28% range since, which is still elite. 15 career INTs in 4 regular seasons puts him in the top tier of active corners on ball-skills alone.
Why it matters. INT/PD conversion rate separates corners who simply deflect from corners who finish — a 38% single-season rate is the kind of number that forces coordinators to change their game plans.
PD-to-tackle ratio 0.38 — he plays the route, not the receiver.
SplitPD-to-tackle ratio, 2024-25 combined
| Player | PDs | Tackles | PD/Tackle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Stingley Jr. | 33 | 88 | 0.38 |
| Quinyon Mitchell | 29 | 90 | 0.32 |
| Pat Surtain II | 23 | 92 | 0.25 |
| Sauce Gardner | 18 | 78 | 0.23 |
| Trent McDuffie | 20 | 122 | 0.16 |
His PD-to-tackle ratio (0.38) is the highest among elite outside CBs over the last two years. Translation: when Stingley gets near the ball, he's far more likely to break up the pass than make a tackle — the signature of a play-the-route shutdown CB, not a run-support corner. McDuffie's 0.16 ratio is the opposite-end style.
Why it matters. PD/tackle ratio is a proxy for how a corner wins — high ratio means he's disrupting at the catch point, low ratio means he's tackling after the catch. Stingley's ratio is the highest in this elite group.
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