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Overview:
HT: 5’9″ WT: 203
Antoine Winfield Jr. has been rising up draft boards as of late. Son of former All-Pro cornerback Antoine Winfield, this safety is a versatile player and an evident hard worker. Is he a future star in an NFL secondary?
Critical Factors:
- Athletic Ability/Lateral Agility (5)
- Winfield is a very athletic player. It doesn’t show on tape as much as one would hope, but his measurables are above average, approaching elite.
- For a smaller player, he wears his weight well and has a good frame to support an athletic build.
- He has a good backpedal and solid hips, he isn’t the most fluid mover in this safety class. He is athletic enough to be a likely contributor from day one.
- Some of his interceptions come on extremely athletic plays.
- Mental Processing/Key and Diagnose (5)
- Winfield is an instinctive player and does a good job of diagnosing the play and getting to his spot.
- He makes a lot of his decisions by reading/anticipating the quarterback. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It allows to him to break fast on the ball when a pass is thrown and break up the play, but he also consistently bites on play action and that is when he gives up the majority of his plays.
- Competitive Toughness (6)
- He competes through the whistle on every down, plays with heart.
- He is not afraid to come up and make a tackle, even on much bigger players. He is most often guarding tight ends or playing in the run game.
- Play Speed (5)
- Winfield is not a burner at the safety position. He does not come all the way across the field for miraculous interceptions on a regular basis, and he does not come all the way up the field from a single high spot to make a tackle at the line. Very few safeties can do those things.
- He has more than enough speed to be a factor in every phase of the game and I see him as an instant contributor on special teams. The NFL game will not be too fast for him to contribute.
- Play Strength (4)
- For his size, Winfield is a strong player who stands his ground in coverage against much bigger bodies.
- He also has no fear making tackles and regularly tackles players of all sizes. That being said, he is not an elite tackler and that is because of his size/strength.
- He has enough strength for a safety, but depending on his role in the league he may need to tack on some extra mass.
Check out Winfield’s tape from the Penn State game!
Position Specific Traits:
- Tackling/Pursuit (5)
- Winfield is excellent in pursuit, he takes great paths/routes to the ball carrier to make sure to get his hands on them.
- His tackling technique is simple, he steadies his hips and dives low to try to take out the players legs, or wrap their legs.
- He will occasionally try to get a bigger hit by leading with his shoulder, but as a smaller player he almost always goes low. This could prove to be a challenge at the next level against a higher level of competition.
- Versatility (6)
- Arguably the most attractive trait that Winfield excels at is his ability to do many different things well. The phrase, “Jack of all trades, master of none” comes to mind.
- He can cover in the slot, as well as on the back end with a very reasonable success rate. He prefers matchups where he has a size disadvantage to matchups where he has a speed disadvantage.
- He can line up in the box and defend the run, or overtop and defend.
- He is a good blitzer both up the middle and lining up off the edge. He gets home to the quarterback, but he sometimes struggles getting the running back when the opposition runs against a blitz.
- Run Stopping/Inside and Outside (5)
- He diagnoses run plays very well and takes good angles to the ball carriers. He struggles shedding blocks, but when he finds open lanes he does a good job of getting his hands on the ball carrier.
- He doesn’t whiff on tackles, but his tackles can be broken in the hole by strong ball carriers. This is because of his tendency to go low, they can sometimes step out of his tackles.
- Play Recognition (5)
- Winfield is an intelligent player who makes smart and decisive reads. At the same time, he is also prone to hesitation so his first step is often in the wrong direction.
- He does a great job of reading the quarterback and his eyes when in zone. This helps him jump routes for interceptions or to break up plays.
- One of Winfield’s weakest areas comes from his focus on the quarterback, he bites consistently on play action which sees him give up plays behind him.
- Coverage (5)
- Winfield excels in man coverage, particularly against tight ends, a surprising trait for a smaller player. Assuming that skill translates, it is very valuable in the modern NFL. That being said, Travis Kelce and George Kittle will pose a much greater challenge than the BIG 10 tight ends he has faced in the past.
- He plays a lot of cover 2, but also plays the single high spot in cover one.
- He struggles the most when playing zone and facing crossers, he occasionally picks up the wrong man.
- He had seven interceptions in 2019, so his ability to get to the ball is evident.
Scheme/Fit: Winfield Jr. could be viewed as a free safety, a strong safety, a nickel or even a slot corner by some teams. His best fit is likely as a strong safety or a hybrid safety. He excels in man coverage and has played a lot of zone in his time at Minnesota so he can carve out a role in any defense.
Negatives: Winfield’s negatives are fixable for the most part. He is instinctual, but he needs to work on reading the play quicker and not biting on fakes. That will come with time in the film room and studying the tendencies of quarterbacks and offenses more. He needs to become a more confident tackler because athletes in the NFL will take advantage and go high when he goes low.
Combine Report:
Relevant Numbers: 40 Yard Dash – 4.45; Vertical – 36; Broad – 124
Winfield’s combine was eye opening for many in the scouting community. That is a testament to the fact that he jumped extremely well and showed off great speed despite tape that said this guy is nothing special. Aside from the occasional “wow” play, Winfield was not someone who stuck out as an athletic specimen, but his measurables said otherwise. These numbers are what prove that despite a few negatives to his game, he is a project worth undergoing.
NFL Player Comparison/Projected Round: Tyrann Mathieu — Round 2
Winfield was one of the tougher players to evaluate. Sometimes he looks like a bona fide first rounder and other times he looks like a player who is enough of a project he shouldn’t be drafted before the third. Many in the scouting community use star safety Tyrann Mathieu as his comparison, which was a fair and interesting 1:1. Both players are extremely similarly built, and have versatile games where they contribute in both the run and pass game. Winfield Jr.’s upside and tenacity are my biggest questions. Winfield is technically sound and is also an excellent tackler/hitter for his size and role.
Winfield looks like someone who can start from day one and line up at either safety spot or even both safety spots. The athleticism he displayed at the combine and flashed on tape shows he has the potential to meet this lofty comparison. He has a few areas of his game to work on, but the Mathieu comparisons are out there, perhaps he will live up to them. The logic behind the round 2 projection, is that much like when Mathieu was coming out, team’s devalue players at positions of lesser value, such as safety, particularly those with size or athleticism question marks.
As always, we end on a high note, check out Winfield’s highlights!
Jesse Shuter 