Panthers Big Board: Antoine Winfield Jr. Draft Profile
With the 2020 NFL Combine officially underway and the draft just around the corner, we continue to break down some of the college game's biggest stars that the Panthers may have their eye on.
Today, we take a sneak peek at Minnesota safety, Antoine Winfield Jr.
In 2019, Winfield Jr. went from an unknown commodity to a perennial star in the Big 10 for the Gophers. He finished his senior season with 83 tackles, seven interceptions, three tackles for loss and three sacks. His seven interceptions ranked him fourth nationally. It didn't take him long to adjust to the college game as he registered 52 tackles and one interception as a true freshman.
Just as Winfield began to settle into his collegiate career, adversity hit. He had back-to-back season-ending injuries with a hamstring in 2017 and a left foot injury in 2018. Injuries aside, Winfield had a pretty stellar career at Minnesota. During his senior campaign and his last ditch effort to prove his worth to NFL scouts, Winfield went off.
Winfield is a versatile player and is not limited to playing one position, but did say that he feels most comfortable playing at the free safety position. He is a disciplined safety that can also be aggressive in coverage, but knows when to take his chances. He makes unbelievably good jumps on the ball and can fly all over the field - two reasons as to why he finished the year with seven interceptions.
As James Bradberry appears to be too high of a price tag for the Panthers, they will have to look to rebuild the secondary through the draft and Winfield Jr. could be a guy they take a hard look at.
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