Chicago Bears Draft: Are we sleeping on Antoine Winfield Jr?

The Chicago Bears could find a slot corner in Antoine Winfield Jr.

The Chicago Bears have shown interest in Antoine Winfield Jr, son of former Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield Sr. I was not very high on the safety from Minnesota because he has health concerns and played safety the majority of his senior year.

Winfeld Jr checks in at 5’9 and 203 pounds. While he is not small, he is short. That has been an issue for him on deep ball, contested-catch situations in the past. However, you can chalk most of them up as a coaching error or an outstanding play by both the opposing quarterback and wide receiver.

We should note it has nothing to do with Winfield Jr. being unathletic. Wiinfield Jr. does not lack the explosion of speed at the position. He ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash. His ability to leap helps make up for his lack of height. Winfield Jr. had a 40-inch vertical leap at the NFL Combine.

Winfield Jr was not a pure safety. He was tasked with shutting down the primary player on offense. If it was a running back, he was loaded in the box. If it was a tight end or a slot receiver, he played nickel corner. Winfield Jr even was asked to play outside at times if the challenge was too much for his teammates.

Winfield Jr has a strong passion for football. He models his game after Tyrann Mathieu, another multidimensional defender. When asked where he wants to play, he referenced that he would love to play in the cold. This player screams Ryan Pace. At the NFL combine, Winfield Jr was asked who he felt was the hardest player he ever came across. That player was nonother then KJ Hamler from Penn State, who has been commonly mocked to the Chicago Bears.

What intrigued me was when I listen to a mock draft brought by YouTuber NFL Retweet. He does an excellent job of predicting the offseason moves by every NFL team. Comparing Winfield Jr to Mathieu would show that this position comes with injury concerns, but when healthy they are both dynamic game-changers.

Mathieu was selected in the third round of the NFL draft. The 43rd overall pick seems about right for Winfield considering he also plays on special teams as a returner and a gunner on punt coverage. The Chicago Bears currently have Buster Skrine and Duke Shelley in the slot. Many are looking at the loss of Prince Amukamara on the outside, are the Bears set on the inside?

During the 2018 season, the Chicago Bears had the leagues best defensive back stats in the league. Part of that was their slot corner, Bryce Callahan. He was a sure tackler, took the ball away multiple times, and sacked the quarterback. All things Winfield Jr has done and specialized in college.

The Chicago bears could be primed to drafting what was lost during the 2019 season when Callahan went to the Broncos. Most NFL teams are in a nickel package more often than their base defense. Adding in his special teams’ value, he could be tough to pass up if he is sitting around when the Chicago Bears select at the 43rd overall pick.