Derek Stingley Jr. Scouting Report (long post)

EDIT: I didn't have time to proofread this, I barely had time to finish typing it before leaving for work. I just read it and it's full of typos but I'm too drunk to care, so deal with it.

Derek Stingley Jr. is a 5-star prospect and second highest rated prospect (per 247) at a major position of need for our tigers, and he's right in our backyard. So, beyond the basic rankings, what do we actually think of the kid ? Over the last few days, I spent a few hours watching film, and here are my thoughts.

Right off the bat, I was saying to myself wow this kid is a hell of an athlete. On his special teams clips, you routinely see him just outright run by everybody else. And usually it isn't even close. Once he gets a step on somebody, it's over. On step past a would be tackler, and he'll easily put 5-10 yards between himself and the pursuer.

But every highly rated defensive back seems to look impressive on special teams at the high school level. What does Stingley use that athleticism as a corner ? To get your answer, you need to look no further than the very first defensive clip on his junior highlights on Hudl. Derek is lined up as the outside corner, about 7 yards off of the line of scrimmage. The offense is a trips formation, with 3 wide receiver's on Stingley's side of the field. He has another corner lined up on the innermost of the three receivers, about 4 yards off the line. A third corner lines up on the wrong side of the field given the offensive formation, tries to switch sides, but does not make it over before the ball is snapped. This leaves 2 DB's covering 3 wide receivers. As the ball is snapped, Derek begins moving backwards and toward the middle of the field, mirroring the middle of the three receivers, who is getting upfield in a hurry.. The outermost receiver breaks hard towards the sideline on an out route. This is wear the magic happens. When that receiver makes his break, there's already five yards between Stingley and himself, and has Stingley moving the opposite direction. This should be an easy completion. Stingey reads it perfectly. He passes the middle receiver off to the safety (they're playing zone,) plants his leg hard in the ground and, off of that single step, flips his hips towards the sideline. This in and of itself is impressive. It's rare to find a high school corner who's hips are that fluid. Hell, a lot of NFL DB's can't even flip their hips as quickly as he does in this clip. Once he's turned, he absolutely EXPLODES towards the receiver. By the time he starts moving that way, there's easily 6 yards of separation between the two, with the receiver already running towards the sideline. Derek eats this cushion up like its nothing. Perhaps the ball came out a little late, but its just incredible how quickly he covered that much ground. He not only gets to the receiver in time, he gets there early enough to go underneath him, easily pick off the pass, and take it to the house.

This type of play seems pretty routine throughout his film. He's an explosive athlete with fluid hips who can change direction and make up a lot of space in a hurry. He's excellent at reading the receivers and the quarterback, and has the speed and explosiveness to easily cover his entire zone. The kid is an absolute ball hawk. Playing mostly zone, he reads the play, tracks the ball extremely well, and goes and gets it. Has no problem high pointing the ball, does an excellent job getting his head turned around and looking for it, and has reliable hands. I have no doubt he could be an impact player as a receiver if he wanted to.

I was initially a bit worried about his size, as I tend to be a fan of bigger corners and he only weighs 170 pounds. The tape alleviated my worries though. He's a physical dude who plays much bigger than he is. He's a great tacklers in run support, capable of getting through blocks, and laying down some big hits while maintaining excellent form and wrapping up. Throws some crushing blocks when he has the opportunity on special teams.

My only real concern is that he seems to exclusively play zone in high school. He has all the physical tools, but I feel he may need some coaching before he can be left out on a island in man coverage. That's not for sure, there's just no tape for me to get a feel on him. With guys like this, they often need to be taught proper hand usage, press/release techniques, etc. They reads he makes playing zone tells me he's a smart kid with a high football IQ. Pair that with Coach Raymond, and I'm sure they can fix whatever issues he may or may not even have in man coverage.

BOTTOM LINE: Explosive, ball hawking corner. A+ prospect. I want this kid bad.




Thanks for reading guys. This is the first time I've ever made a post like this. Please give me some feedback. I love watching film, so if you guys like my little scouting report, I'll look into writing up a few more. Geaux Tigers.