Prestigiacomo announced his retirement on Wednesday morning after 233 matches in 15 years with Collingwood.
Lloyd, who is just three months younger than Prestigiacomo and was regularly matched against him, said he was always a difficult opponent.
"I've got the utmost respect for Simon," Lloyd told afl.com.au. "A lot of people say how quiet he was on the field. He played the game really fairly and was an unbelievable competitor.
"One thing I'll say is how quick he was on the lead. He had lightning speed which kept him in the game so long. He was a lot like Steve Silvagni where he could just pin an arm without the umpires attracting the attention of it.
"It just stops your run and jump a lot of the time. I always tried to run him up the ground and try to work him on the way back because he was very hard to get a kick on when on the lead."
Lloyd said Prestigiacomo would be remembered as one of the best key defenders of his time.
"I probably rate him below Silvagni and (Matthew) Scarlett and the like just because they had that mix of unbelievable stoppers but hurt you on the way to the other end," he said.
"Definitely in terms of a 15-year period he would be in the top five or six full-backs that were around."
Lloyd said he always looked forward to his battles with Prestigiacomo and said there was no clear winner over their respective careers.
"I can recall the good ones where I got hold of him a few times but I'm sure we were quite even over the journey," Lloyd said.
"I remember a few Anzac Days where I might have only kicked one or none at times and Simon definitely got the better of me."
