DJ Bien-Ami said it best. Sauce is an S Tier sticky cover guy and a D tier Ball Hawk. Stingley is an A Tier sticky cover guy and an S tier Ball Hawk. Derek is the better CB for sure but doesn’t play in NYC where good players are treated and talked about like gods.
I wonder how often this happens. It seems to me that players are probably not reliable to keep secrets and are going to use whatever leverage they have with other teams to improve their draft position, so telling a player you will choose him if you aren't interested would probably only help most teams. But having said that, I feel like I don't often hear stories of players claiming they were told they would be drafted and then aren't, so maybe it isn't very common. Though I suppose teams could strongly hint at it.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/st...uts-2024-espn-jeremy-fowler-position-rankings 10. Derek Stingley Jr., Houston Texans Highest ranking: 2 | Lowest ranking: Unranked Age: 23 | Last year's ranking: Unranked Stingley went one pick ahead of Gardner in the 2022 draft -- Nos. 3 and 4, respectively -- and while Gardner captivated earlier, Stingley is validating his status, too. Stingley had major ball production in 2023, with five interceptions and 13 pass breakups in 11 games. His 31% ball-hawk rate led the league. This is a case where the stats and the eye-test skills match. "So smooth and athletic," an AFC scout said. "No physical limitations. Really strong with good ball skills."
