Philadelphia Eagles: 3 reasons drafting Antoine Winfield Jr. makes sense
By Hunter Doyle
The Philadelphia Eagles may have a chance to land an elite safety in Antoine Winfield Jr. during the draft and shouldn’t pass up this opportunity.
On Thursday, the 2020 NFL Draft will officially get underway for the Philadelphia Eagles and every other team, although this year’s event will be virtual due to the current pandemic.
Sports fans everywhere will be tuning in since this is one of the first sports-related events we have seen in over a month.
There is plenty of excitement for Eagles fans, as the team will try to land some talented receivers and fill other holes on the roster as well.
While most of the attention will be focused on one of the deepest receiver classes in recent history, the Eagles could still add some under-the-radar players at other positions to build towards the future.
Safety is a position on the Eagles roster that has plenty of talent, but also plenty of uncertainty at the same time.
When looking at some of the talent that will be available, Antoine Winfield Jr. is the perfect guy to add to this group for both the short and long term.
After an outstanding 2019 season with the Minnesota Gophers, the 21-year-old is headed to the big leagues and seems ready to contribute on the defensive side of the football, whether it happens to be with the Eagles or another team.
While Winfield did suffer some injuries in previous seasons, he was able to play all of last year and elevated his draft stock in the process.
Winfield’s swagger and confidence alone will attract teams looking for a menace on defense. The intensity and passion that Winfield plays with is unmatched, and he is always mentally prepared every single snap.
Additionally, the five-foot-nine height is a big concern for teams. However, there have been various safeties who have found success in this league without being the tallest guy on the turf.
For example, the ‘Honey Badger’ Tyrann Mathieu is still one of the league’s top safeties while Earl Thomas has maintained his status as one of the game’s best.
Not to mention, Troy Polamalu had one of the best careers of all-time at the safety position, and Philly’s own Rodney McLeod has gotten the job done for years.
Believe it or not, all four of these safeties stand at just five-foot-ten.
With a safety class that appears to be fairly underwhelming, Winfield could quietly fall to a team on Day 2 and potentially end up being the steal of the NFL Draft.
With the chance of teams possibly feeling regret passing on Winfield with all his potential, the last thing Philadelphia wants is to end up being one of those teams.
So with the draft only a few days away, here are some reasons to support the idea of Winfield joining the Eagles.