The 2020 NFL Draft will be a great event for teams to start building for their future. Here is the Antoine Winfield 2020 NFL Draft profile.

Background

Position: Safety

Size: 5-foot-9, 203 pounds

Class: Redshirt Sophomore

2019 stats: 83 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, 7 interceptions, 1 pass defended, 2 forced fumbles, 1 touchdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuC3inknp6I&t=1s

Winfield has been in football his whole life, with his father being a great NFL defensive back, but he wasn’t heavily recruited. He chose to go to Minnesota for his college career, where he developed into one of the best safeties in the country.

He started his career at Minnesota off well with nine starts in his freshman season. Winfield had 52 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one interception. The Golden Gophers won nine games including the Holiday Bowl over Washington State. The next two seasons Winfield played in four games before getting injured and missing the rest of those seasons. He returned in 2019 with 83 total tackles, seven interceptions and one pass defended. His play helped Minnesota go 11-2 with a win over Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

Even though he had two seasons of eligibility remaining, Winfield decided to enter the 2020 NFL Draft. He is currently projected to be selected within the first two days of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Strengths

Winfield has great awareness for his position. He has great play diagnosis and is usually in the right spot to make a play. His ability to quickly decide whether it is a run or pass by reading his keys helps him get a jump on the play. In pass coverage, he anticipates the routes receivers are running and usually gets in position to make the play.

He has great ball skills, which come into play a lot because of his awareness. Winfield gets to the ball well and once in the area, makes plays. He is a threat to disrupt the receiver or get an interception on a lot of passes. His seven interceptions last season were impressive and once he has the ball in his hands, the is a threat to return it for a touchdown.

His ability to support the run is a huge asset to a defense. He recognizes the direction of the run early on in the play and plays downhill to help the team out. Once he gets to the ball carrier, he is a pretty good tackler as well, helping limit big plays.

Weaknesses

Winfield may be the son of a former pro, but he doesn’t have the desired size of an NFL safety. At just 5-foot-9, he will have a hard time matching up with receivers and tight ends who are bigger than him. This also causes durability issues, as he has already missed a lot of time in college with injuries.

He is a pretty average athlete in comparison to the other athletes at his position in this draft class. Winfield isn’t able to match up physically or athletically with a lot of his opponents. That means he has to rely on his football IQ and ball skills to make plays. If those start slipping, he will have a rough time in the NFL.

Range is another concern with Winfield. He doesn’t have the best speed in the class, which means that he covers less ground. When in a deep zone, it could be hard for him to cover all of his zone. This could leave teams wondering whether he can be a single-high safety on plays for their team.

Projected Draft Range: First Round Pick-Second Round Pick

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