Derek Stingley became the first cornerback in Texans history to earn first-team All-Pro in 2024. He repeated that honor after an outstanding 2025 season.
“I know a lot of people haven’t done it,” Stingley said last month, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “So, it’s cool to be one of those people.”
Stingley, 25, has come a long way since the Texans used the third overall pick on him in 2022. A hamstring injury limited him to nine games in his rookie season, and the Texans were questioned for not drafting Sauce Gardner, who went fourth overall to the Jets. Gardner made All-Pro in his rookie season and earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Three years later, Stingley ranks among the best cornerbacks in the league . . . and is paid like it.
Stingley, who signed a three-year, $90 million contract with the Texans in the 2025 offseason, said he improved this offseason. That has him believing that 2026 will be even better than 2025 when he totaled 36 tackles, 15 passes defensed and four interceptions.
Stingley is the league’s only cornerback with at least four interceptions each of the past three seasons.
“I feel like I’m a little bit quicker right now,” Stingley said. “I’ve just still got to work on my feet, hands, eyes. Whether that’s beginning of the route, the end of the route, I got to make sure I catch all the ones that come my way.”
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