It's been quite a year for Derek Stingley, Jr.
The cornerback signed a contract extension with the Texans on Monday morning. It comes on the heels of his All-Pro 2024 regular season, in which he picked off five passes, and then added two more interceptions in the playoffs.
2025 will be his fourth season in the NFL, and the LSU product has the ability to excel in both man-to-man and zone coverage. He frequently was tasked with covering the opposing team's best wide receiver, and he routinely locked that pass-catcher up. Head Coach DeMeco Ryans explained just how Stingley's able to come down with so many interceptions.
"Derek has done a great job all year of when people challenge him down the field, he has a great ability to track the football and go make the play," Ryans said in January. "Not many guys have that ability to track the football so a lot of guys play DB because they can't catch it but Derek does a good job of playing with great awareness but also having great hands to finish the play and make teams pay."
In what proved to be an AFC South-clinching victory over the Dolphins in December, Stingley covered All-Pro wideout Tyreek Hill. Early in the fourth quarter of that contest, Stingley snuffed out a would-be Miami touchdown drive when he intercepted a pass intended for Hill inside Houston's 10-yard line. Then, on the Dolphins' final possession, he struck again, picking off another Tua Tagavailoa throw intended for Hill.
"Sting's pretty unique with the ball in his hands and catching," Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said late in the season. "He's got great ball skills. Sting's got that patented – I don't even know how he does that. That little thing over the shoulder hook thing that he's got. That's his move."
Of those seven interceptions in the regular and postseason, the final four came in the fourth quarter of Texans wins. Houston was undefeated in the five games (vs. Chicago, at Dallas, vs. Jacksonville, vs. Miami, vs. Chargers) Stingley snared an interception. All-time, the Texans are 8-2 in games when he's intercepted a pass.
Stingley is a defensive anchor for the franchise, and now he's under contract for a few more years.
