BATON ROUGE — LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. stated he felt like he confirmed NFL groups that “nothing has changed over these past couple years” and “I’m still me, everything’s gonna be good” after a powerful professional day exercise Wednesday.
Stingley, a possible top-10 NFL draft choose who underwent surgical procedure to restore a Lisfranc damage in his left foot final September, posted instances of 4.37 and 4.44 seconds within the 40-yard sprint and a vertical leap of 38.5 inches, in accordance with the varsity’s numbers. NFL groups in attendance recorded instances between the mid 4.3s and low 4.4s on his first run, in accordance with some scouts in attendance. Stingley additionally drew reward for the way nicely he moved in place drills.
Stingley didn’t carry out in any drills ultimately month’s NFL scouting mix in Indianapolis. He stated he was cleared to do full-speed work about three weeks in the past and began to really feel 100% over the previous couple of days.
The 6-foot, 190-pounder stated he is aware of “I can run faster than a 4.3” however general felt good about his efficiency. He’ll start visiting groups over the following few weeks main as much as the draft. He estimated that he has 9 visits lined up.
“I feel fine right now. It doesn’t even feel like I hurt it in the first place,” stated Stingley, who defined that he initially suffered the Lisfranc damage on the primary day of camp final summer time earlier than taking part in by means of it for 3 video games and aggravating it to the purpose that it required surgical procedure.
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay described Stingley as a “tough evaluation” whereas projecting him to go to the Minnesota Vikings with the twelfth choose in his latest mock draft. Stingley had a sensational season in 2019 as a freshman on LSU’s nationwide championship workforce, incomes second-team All-America honors with six interceptions and 21 passes defended. However then his manufacturing dropped off with zero interceptions through the COVID-affected 2020 season and his injury-marred 2021 marketing campaign.
ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. agreed that “there are going to be questions about his up-and-down play,” whereas rating him ninth general on his latest Big Board, however predicted that “NFL teams will see more good tape than bad and draft him based on his ceiling.”
Stingley stated he is not fearful about how groups will view his previous two seasons as a result of “they know what I am.”
When requested particularly about conversations he was seen having with Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley each earlier than and after his exercise Wednesday, Stingley stated, “His whole reason he just told me for coming out here, he wanted to see if I still had the determination and like just the power to go out there and just perform. And when he seen it, he said that’s what he was waiting to see. And that’s what a lot of people were trying to see.”
Stingley stated he is not targeted on the place he’ll go within the draft. However he wasn’t shy about sharing his lofty purpose for his NFL profession.
“I just want to be the greatest ever — like, ever,” Stingley stated.
