LSU super soph Derek Stingley Jr. already the best defensive player in college football

Derek Stingley Jr. is already the next superstar from DBU.

In two years, LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. may be the first defensive player taken in the 2022 NFL Draft.

No, it didn’t take long for Stingley to assert himself among the many great players on the LSU football defense. Stingley starred in the same defensive backfield that featured Jim Thorpe Award-winning safety Grant Delpit. By the end of the season, college football fans were turning their heads to look outside the numbers at Stingley. “Who is that?!”

As a true freshman, Stingley earned First-Team All-American status, was named First-Team All-SEC and helped the LSU Tigers win their fourth national title in school history. He was so impressive during his first year at LSU that former Tigers standout Jamal Adams said Stingley was the next star at DBU.

It should come as no surprise FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff said Stingley was the best defensive player in college football. What is astounding is who he beat out in their top-five: Oregon Ducks defensive lineman Kayvon Thibodeaux, Penn State Nittany Lions linebacker Micah Parsons, Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Dylan Moses and Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Gregory Rousseau.

Derek Stingley Jr. has a chance to be a college football legend at LSU.

LSU football has given us ample defensive back talent over the years. Star players in the secondary who have shined on Baton Rouge Saturday nights include Adams, Delpit, Tyrann Mathieu, Patrick Peterson and Tre’Davious White just to name a very select few. But there’s something different about Stingley and even the stars like Adams are quick to see it.

If we want to go in the way back machine, Stingley could get to a Tommy Casanova level of reverence when it comes to starring on the LSU defense. The three-time First-Team All-American and College Football Hall of Famer is among the greatest defensive backs in the history of SEC football. He even had a brilliant, but short six-year NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals.

That’s the type of player Stingley can be at LSU. We’re talking about a guy who transcends the position he plays at the college level. For a minute there, Mathieu did that for the 2011 Tigers. If we’re looking for outside of the SEC comparisons, how about Ronnie Lott of the USC Trojans, Deion Sanders of the Florida State Seminoles or Charles Woodson of the Michigan Wolverines?

It is with good reason Lott, Sanders and Woodson are among the greatest defensive backs to have played college football in the last half-century. Lott and Sanders are already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Once Woodson is eligible, the 1997 Heisman Trophy winner will be a first-ballot guy in the Class of 2021.

If you don’t think Stingley is the best defensive player in college football, you aren’t watching.

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