The legacy of AW Jr: Draft's Best Safety
Antoine Winfield Jr.'s Legacy Starts with Being Draft's Best Safety ProspectBrent Sobleski
No matter where Winfield goes, the shadow of his father will always follow him. That's what happens when one enters the family business.
"I feel like every team I go to, people have either played with him or coached with him," Winfield told reporters during his media session at the NFL Scouting Combine. He's often told about "anything they remember about my dad."
Family legacies tend to create ripple effects. Either the child becomes overwhelmed and never lives up to the standard set by their parent, or the parent's success helps build a future for further familial achievements.
In Winfield's case, his father, who was one of the best all-around and certainly one of the most physical corners of his era, helped mold a hard worker and instilled a level of professionalism in his son most individuals don't reach until they're in the league for years.
"Watching him work hard throughout his career is what really taught me how to work hard," the 2019 Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year said. "I feel like that's a testament to me being here."
But Junior shouldn't be viewed in the same manner as Senior. Yes, a few similarities apparently run through the Winfields' genetic coding—and those will be discussed—but the younger Winfield enters the league at a different position without the same pedigree as his father.
Antoine Winfield Sr. came out of a pipeline program in Ohio State as an expected first-round pick despite his size limitations (5'9", 180 pounds). The 1999 draft entree won both the Jim Thorpe Award and Jack Tatum Trophy during his final year on campus.
The younger defensive back established himself as an elite defensive back after Sunday's combine performance, though his collegiate play should have had him there already. NFL talent evaluations can be a tricky business. But a significant concern persisted with Winfield's skill set.
"There have been a lot of questions about my speed," he said on Saturday. "So that's what I'm ready to prove a lot of people wrong with."
He certainly did.
Really, the incoming safety's skill set is a mixture of multiple defensive backs, and his father provided the foundation.
Earl Thomas III reset the standard for free safeties. Thomas ran a 4.43-second40-yard dash during the 2010 combine. Prior to his arrival, the NFL relied heavily on Cover 2 usage thanks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' success through the late 1990s and early 2000s. But the Seattle Seahawks had different plans. Pete Carroll brought an aggressive Cover 3 approach with Thomas serving as the eraser along the backline. He could make up for any mistake against the run or a deep pass thanks to his burst. Winfield Jr. displayed similar quickness with his 40-yard effort.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2878719-antoine-winfield-jrs-legacy-starts-with-being-drafts-best-safety-prospect?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_medium=referral
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
The incoming safety class presents a few interesting options.
Alabama's Xavier McKinney is steady because of his overall field awareness. He can play either safety spot or nickel linebacker. He's rarely out of position and won't make too many mistakes. LSU's Grant Delpit is a physical safety who's best near the line of scrimmage, though missed tackles became a bugaboo. Small-school standouts Kyle Dugger and Jeremy Chinn are impressive physical specimens making the leap from a lower level of competition—both certainly have the natural ability to do so but will remain a question mark until they prove themselves.
But none of those mentioned bring the same potential game-breaking ability as Winfield Jr. The early entrant proved he has the speed to back up what he did on the field when healthy. The final point shouldn't be entirely overlooked since the former Gopher only played in eight combined games between 2017 and 2018. If fully cleared by medical personnel, there's no incoming prospect better suited to play safety in today's NFL.
hopefully he will be there in the second
if we can add some talent to the OL and DL in FA, underrated pick ups that reap better performance vs last years LG, DT, NT play
Diggs 1st
Winfield 2nd
would be ideal
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