ESPN Analyst Kirk Herbstreit Picks LSU Football Cornerback Derek Stingley as Heisman Winner

Stingley hype reaches max volume as 2020 season approaches

As if the preseason hype around sophomore cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. could grow no more, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit added fuel to the fire. During the debut of College Gameday on Saturday, the crew was asked to make their preseason Heisman picks and Herbstreit went with Stingley. 

"It says most outstanding player on the trophy and so Derek Stingley Jr. at LSU, guys when we watch him play--I know it always goes to an offensive player--but man you want to watch a guy that can play the game," Herbstreit said. "I was blown away by him and he kind of got lost a little bit with all of the big names on that offense. But that guy's one of the best players in the country for sure."

The sentiments on Stingley are well known by now as he was a consensus All-American in 2019 as a freshman, leading the SEC in interceptions (six) and passes defended (21), which ranked No. 2 nationally. 

Stingley now enters a sophomore season where he'll be one of the veterans of the team as only five starters from the 2019 championship squad remain in Baton Rouge.

"You know, he’s one of those guys. I think he’s a great player. I think he has a lot of room for growth, I think he is going to keep getting better," defensive coordinator Bo Pelini said in an interview on Hangin' with Hester a few months back.

For his accomplishments a season ago, Stingley has been named to multiple preseason watch lists including the Maxwell, Jim Thorpe, Paul Hornung, Negurski and Bednarik awards.

LSU plans to be more multiple in the way they use the dynamic defensive back, who spent most of last season as the primary lockdown, press cornerback. While he'll still continue to return punts, coach Ed Orgeron said the team will also start blitzing him off the edge, something he didn't do any of last season under Dave Aranda.

"I think this year you're not going to see us just use Derek in man free coverage, I think you're going to see him blitzing, I think you're going to see him use his talents in some places where we need him on defense," Orgeron said on WWL back in May. "I think Bo's going to mix it up where he's going to have our corners doing different things."

Former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was also extremely complimentary of Stingley's abilities as he saw first hand what the now sophomore can do on a daily basis.

"He is the best young cornerback I’ve ever seen and I’ve been around some great ones. He’s the best and it’s really not even close," Burrow said on Adam Schefter's Podcast ahead of the NFL draft. "He plays the position so smooth that it’s just really hard to get open on him. The battle between him and Ja’Marr in practice was a lot of fun.

“When he first got to LSU I learned very quickly throwing his direction was not going to be how I made my living at practice.”