Possible NY Jets draft target Derek Stingley Jr. to skip Combine

Joe Douglas, New York Jets will not see Derek Stingley Jr. in Indianapolis

LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. has been one of the most commonly linked prospects to the New York Jets throughout the very early goings of the 2022 NFL draft process.

It had seemed like Jets general manager Joe Douglas and the New York brass would get an in-person look at Stingley Jr. during the NFL Scouting Combine throughout the upcoming week, but that will not be the case.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Stingley Jr. will not work out at the Combine. Instead, he will wait to showcase his skills at LSU’s Pro Day on April 6.

#LSU CB Derek Stingley Jr., perhaps the top CB in the draft, will wait until his Pro Day on April 6 to workout, source said. Stingley had surgery for a Lisfranc injury during the season and is nearly 100%. But not quite there yet, so no workouts at the Combine.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 28, 2022

Stingley appears to still be recovering from surgery for a Lisfranc injury that limited him to three games in his 2021 junior season.

The Jets-Stingley Jr. talk will likely not subside anytime soon. At the website NFL Mock Draft Database, Stingley Jr. is gaining steam as the internet’s most popular choice to be selected by New York with the 10th overall pick.

Stingley Jr. has been mocked to the Jets at No. 10 in 38% of mock drafts within the site’s database that have been published over the past week, making him the favorite to be taken in that slot.

Not only is Stingley Jr. the favorite to be taken at No. 10, but the mock drafting community is becoming more certain about him being drafted in that slot than they are about almost any other prospect going in any particular slot.

Among mock drafts in NFL Mock Draft Database’s data pool over the past week, Stingley Jr.’s 38% ratio to the Jets at No. 10 is the greatest ratio for any player in any draft slot from picks 3-32. Only Evan Neal (76% to Jaguars at No. 1) and Aidan Hutchinson (63% to Lions at No. 2) are greater consensuses in the first round.

Douglas and company will have to wait until their early-April trip to Baton Rouge to see the player who much of the world thinks will be joining their franchise in exactly two months’ time. The first round of the 2022 NFL draft will commence in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 28.