7 cornerbacks the Vikings could select in the 2022 NFL Draft
By Luke Parrish
Derek Stingley (LSU)
Measurements:
- Height: 6-feet | Weight: 190 pounds
2021 Stats (3 games):
- 8 tackles
- 1 forced fumble
Derek Stingley is going to be a fascinating player to follow over the final month of the pre-draft process. His film is some of the best you will ever see from a cornerback at the college level, but injuries delayed an otherwise legendary trajectory from the LSU standout.
His freshman season was a clinic of ball skills and single coverage as he helped the Tigers win the National Championship back in 2019. That season, Stingley finished with six interceptions and 15 pass breakups as the top cornerback on a dominant football team.
If he returns to that level of play, there is no doubt that Stingley will be a top-five NFL cornerback and would be every bit worth a top-10 selection. However, injuries limited him to just 10 games over the past two seasons and have left a bit of a cloud over his NFL resume.
Most mock drafts right now have Stingley as the Vikings’ choice with the 12th selection, which would make sense from a number of standpoints. He would be in a position to be mentored by another LSU legend in Patrick Peterson and the Vikings have players that can start and rotate into action if Stingley needs to be eased into the next level.
I am not often a fan of the “injury-prone” label, but Stingley’s foot injury is something that tends to linger. If it does not heal completely, he could deal with missed time throughout his NFL career and that is a gamble that will scare some teams in the draft.
He has all of the tools to be the best cornerback in the NFL and his film at LSU backs that up. Do the Vikings take the ultimate risk and target a player that can be either a superstar or a bust while they try to create a competitive roster for 2022?