I remember how sad I was when I heard that Antoine Wifnield Jr. had signed with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. I mean, it made sense, but Antoine Winfield was such an awesome player on the field that it only made sense that his son would also be a terror in the secondary. And it turned out that he more than lived up to the hype. When he was on the field, chaos ensued, the only issue was staying on the field as he did struggle with injuries during his career as a Golden Gopher. But he was healthy last season and productive as hell. I took a look at
his game against Penn State to see what kind of player he might become in the NFL and whether he would make sense to solidify the Bears secondary in the second round.
Before we get into the game tape, let’s take a look at the measurements.
Oh man, you know I am just salivating when looking at that height. A perfectly average 5’9” is really what all ladies crave. On top of that, he ran an excellent 40 yard dash at 4.45 and has a strong broad jump which is a good indicator of explosiveness. He didn’t do any change of direction drills, but looking at his play, this is not an area of concern for me.
With him pulling down seven interceptions this past season, his ball skills should not be put in question, but he does some really great things here.
Usually, this is a matchup that a quarterback is going to love. Just having a wide receiver on a safety is a positive, but having a 5’9” safety makes it even more salivating. Winfield makes him pay. It’s an underthrown ball, and Winfield adjusts before the wide receiver, so when the receiver tries to slow up for the ball, Winfield gives him just a bit of a nudge in order to give himself more space to leap in front and make the play.
Although he is great at reading plays in the secondary, his run reads could use some improvement.
On this play, it’s almost like he’s trying to get blocked by the guard as he runs right next to the linebacker so the guard is able to take care of two guys without having to do a whole lot of work. On the positive side, Winfield continues to hustle and does make the tackle 40 yards downfield.
This pass is really bad, but it’s still a nice job by Winfield.
The key here is that Winfield starts moving to his left the second that the Penn State quarterback opens his hips up in that direction. Because there is no hesitation, he’s able to take advantage of the bad pass and create a turnover.
Winfield has a good understanding of leverage and the importance of it when facing off against larger receivers (which is almost always).
Here, he is guarding a 6’5” tight end in the slot, but he stays right on the tight end’s inside hip and gives him no room to even attempt to make the catch even if it was a better thrown ball.
Overall, I really liked what I saw from Winfield. He’s a guy who can clearly see the field and knows how to make plays by anticipating throws. He’s a good prospect who I would be good with the Bears taking, but I just never saw anything jaw dropping. Adding in the injury concerns, I’m only good with Winfield but not enamored with him. Hopefully he is able to stay healthy, because he definitely has the potential to be an impact safety in the pros.
Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State
11. KJ Hamler - Penn State
12. Amik Roberson - Louisiana Tech
13. Laviska Shenault - Colorado
14. Trevon Diggs - Alabama
15. Antoine Winfield Jr. - Minnesota
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