Will the Phins pick their multipurpose safety in this draft?
A few months ago Phins Head Coach Brian Flores was asked to name his all-time favorite player? His answer was three-time Pro Bowl, 14-year veteran Antoine Winfield Sr., who played for the Bills and Vikings. Flores loved the way he played the game: tough, focused, and team-first.
This was likely how Flores envisioned Minkah Fitzpatrick to be…
… before he took over the team.
Interestingly, Minnesota Gopher Antoine Winfield Jr. is in the 2020 NFL Draft. Considering Flores’s love of Winfield Sr. and the release of long time Safety Reshad Jones, could Winfield Jr. be on the Phins radar?
Antoine Winfield Jr. is expected to be a 2nd Day pick
Last year Minnesota finished 1st in the Big Ten West with an excellent 11-2 record and were ranked team for much of the year. This was impressive because Minnesota is not typically a team that gets national ranking recognition. One of the primary reasons why Minnesota did so well last year was because of their opportunistic defense led by Safety Antoine Winfield Jr.
Winfield Jr. was a ball-hawking gamechanger last season with 7 interceptions. The rest of his game was just as good with 85 tackles, 3 sacks, and a pass deflection. To go along with great instincts and a knack for making big plays, Winfield Jr. is fearless at the line of scrimmage and excellent making open-field tackles. The biggest knock against him is his size with a height of just 5’9”. But, he helped offset this weakness at the Combine with a very fast 40-yard time of 4.45.
PFF has this take on Winfield Jr. “He was average at best in coverage in his true freshman season in 2016 by producing a 67.2 coverage grade; the two medical redshirt seasons then followed before Winfield came back with a vengeance in 2019. He raised his coverage grade to 89.2, which was one of the best in the country. He allowed just 11 catches on his 401 coverage snaps while totaling eight combined pass breakups and interceptions. Winfield has excellent instincts at the safety position.”
Winfield Jr. offers big value on Day 2 of the draft
Even though Winfield Jr. isn’t the most physically gifted safety in the draft, he has an NFL pedigree, gritty blue-collar work ethic, and elite production. These are all traits that Coach Flores loves in his players.
Draft analysts have Winfield Jr ranked at around the 6th best Safety and projected to go somewhere between the 2nd to 4th round. However, the best bookie software by AcePerHead.com has Xavier McKinney of Alabama as the favorite at -250 to be the first safety selected. They have Grant Delpit of LSU at even money and Antoine Winfield Jr as the third at +200. So, the money men consider Winfield Jr. as the third-best safety in the draft. This projection would have Winfield Jr. coming off the boards early in the 2nd Round, which might be too early for the Phins to take him. But, maybe he drops into a more palatable slot?
Winfield Jr is certainly the type of player that Coach Flores likes in his locker room and on the field. Also, he fits a big need in the Phins secondary with both Jones and Fitzpatrick gone. Given his potential as a playmaking safety for years to come, Phins fans should keep Winfield Jr. in the back of their mind come Draft Day.
What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans’ thoughts of selecting Winfield Jr in the upcoming draft?