The first start of Jets rookie CB Qwan'tez Stiggers' NFL career last Sunday against the Jaguars wasn't perfect by his standards. He, however, came away encouraged about the future.

"This is just the beginning," Stiggers said. "I feel like one day I am going to be a starter in the NFL. This year I have just been learning from the guys in front of me like Sauce [Gardner] and D.J. [Reed] and Michael [Carter II]. I am going to take what I learned from them and years down the road I am going to be a starter in the NFL."

Stiggers, drafted in the fifth round of April's NFL Draft (No. 176), started in place of the injured CB D.J Reed (groin). Prior to Sunday, Stiggers had appeared in 12 games and played primarily on special teams.

In Week 15, Stiggers did double-duty, playing 31 snaps on defense and 10 on special teams. He registered 4 tackles at corner and 1 as a gunner in the Green & White's 32-25 victory over Jacksonville.

"It really wasn't hard at all," Stiggers said of playing special teams and on defense. "Wherever they need me, I am going to ball. If they need me to play defense, if the need me to play gunner, I can do both. If they need me to block on kick return, I can do that, too. I will do whatever the team needs."

Stiggers' path to the NFL and his first start is an unlikely one. A 0-star recruit out of high school, playing kicker, punter, wide receiver and defensive back, he accepted a scholarship offer to Lane College, a Division II school in Jackson, TN.

Stiggers never suited up in a collegiate game and returned home soon after the start of his freshman year to care for his mother and 13 siblings after the death of his father, Rayves Harrison, in September 2020.

He eventually returned to football when his mother, Kwanna, signed him up for the 7-on-7 semi-pro Fan Controlled Football League in Atlanta. From there he signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League and went on to win Most Outstanding Rookie Award, at 20 years old, the league's youngest player.

Stiggers started 16 games last season, tying for second in the CFL in 2023 with 5 interceptions and making 56 tackles.

"Players like me aren't supposed to be here," Stiggers said. "It was a blessing. The journey I have been on to get here and to be able to start my first NFL game, I just give all the glory to God."

Stiggers, according to Pro Football Focus, was targeted 3 times and allowed 1 catch for 29 yards. On the 1 catch he allowed, Stiggers admitted he took a bad angle and WR Parker Washington took advantage with a third-down completion and run for a first down in the fourth quarter.

"I felt like I tackled really well, and I was really sticky in coverage," Stiggers said. "Later in games, I need to be better. I have to have more football intelligence to know what is going on and make a play."

Stiggers chatted with Gardner and interim HC Jeff Ulbrich immediately following game about his performance, looking to get better and make his first start, the first of many.

"He is showing me enough that I can tell there is some greatness in him," Ulbrich said. "So if he continues to push and grow and become the player we thought we were getting when we drafted him, he is going to be a special player, and he has got the right mindset and approach too, which you cheer for guys like that."

Stiggers added: "Sauce was telling me, 'when adversity hits, what are you going to do with it?' With my story, I could have given up, but I didn't, so I have learned and been taught, it doesn't matter how you start, it is about how you finish."