Antoine Winfield Jr added to Pro Bowl

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It's too bad the Vikings drafted CB Jeff Gladney instead of Winfield. I guess Winfield was too far under the radar - they prob didn't get to see him play. Maybe they forgot who his dad was -- lol. How do you blow THAT one!!! hahaha.
 

Gold Rush said:
It's too bad the Vikings drafted CB Jeff Gladney instead of Winfield. I guess Winfield was too far under the radar - they prob didn't get to see him play. Maybe they forgot who his dad was -- lol. How do you blow THAT one!!! hahaha.
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Winfield plays a different position, no?
 

Word said:
Winfield plays a different position, no?
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Yeah, I don't get the either or people try to make with Gladney vs. Winfield. If the Vikes had drafted a different safety that would make sense.

Shame that he didn't end up in Purple but it isn't like they drafted another safety instead of Winfield.
 

Good to see. Was worried the end of the Rams game would shake his confidence. But I think he'll bounce back just fine.
 




Dakota2 said:
One of his special qualities is unshakeable confidence. All the great ones believe in themselves.
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Yeah, not worried at all about that one play having any long lasting effect on Windfield. He was put in a crappy position being asked as a safety to cover one of the best receivers in the game 1 on 1 with no help.

I would actually love to know if that was really how that defense was designed to work. The HC already commented that some guys didn't get the call to blitz so I wonder if the call really was setup for Winfield to be the primary cover guy as opposed to one of the corners.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, I don't get the either or people try to make with Gladney vs. Winfield. If the Vikes had drafted a different safety that would make sense.

Shame that he didn't end up in Purple but it isn't like they drafted another safety instead of Winfield.
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Especially at the time two of the only spots on the Vikings defense that were locked in were at safety in Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith. Desperately needed a corner, pick made sense at the time. And definitely can't fault them for taking JJ over winfield.

Glad to see winfield doing great though.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, not worried at all about that one play having any long lasting effect on Windfield. He was put in a crappy position being asked as a safety to cover one of the best receivers in the game 1 on 1 with no help.

I would actually love to know if that was really how that defense was designed to work. The HC already commented that some guys didn't get the call to blitz so I wonder if the call really was setup for Winfield to be the primary cover guy as opposed to one of the corners.
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Tampa writers say defense was called for heavy pressure to force quick throw. That would explain why Winfield did not set up deep and cheated in. Pressure didn't come and deep route had time to develop. With Kupp's speed it was over.

Ariens said it was not on coaches. Players "didn't execute". Don't think he was talking about Antoine.
 



skyman31 said:
Especially at the time two of the only spots on the Vikings defense that were locked in were at safety in Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith. Desperately needed a corner, pick made sense at the time. And definitely can't fault them for taking JJ over winfield.

Glad to see winfield doing great though.
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Winfield suffered two season-ending injuries. Probably a lot of teams concerned about his durability. Bucs rolled the dice and won.
 


Gold Rush said:
It's too bad the Vikings drafted CB Jeff Gladney instead of Winfield. I guess Winfield was too far under the radar - they prob didn't get to see him play. Maybe they forgot who his dad was -- lol. How do you blow THAT one!!! hahaha.
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think Big Pappi...
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, I don't get the either or people try to make with Gladney vs. Winfield. If the Vikes had drafted a different safety that would make sense.

Shame that he didn't end up in Purple but it isn't like they drafted another safety instead of Winfield.
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This is why you draft the best athlete available and not necessarily by position, especially for a hack like Gladney who ended up out of the league less than 2 years later. I don't care WHAT position Winfield played, the Vikings should have seen this guy was a playmaker and he was going to be an elite player for the next 10 years. Gopher fans who watched him beat Fresno St. not once but TWICE with spectacular plays would have told them this was an absolute no-brainer and I don't care where he plays you have got to get him here. You keep drafting guys like Gladney instead of Winfield and you end up getting fired......oh wait.
 

Gold Rush said:
This is why you draft the best athlete available and not necessarily by position, especially for a hack like Gladney who ended up out of the league less than 2 years later. I don't care WHAT position Winfield played, the Vikings should have seen this guy was a playmaker and he was going to be an elite player for the next 10 years. Gopher fans who watched him beat Fresno St. not once but TWICE with spectacular plays would have told them this was an absolute no-brainer and I don't care where he plays you have got to get him here. You keep drafting guys like Gladney instead of Winfield and you end up getting fired......oh wait.
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You are viewing it through the lens of a Gopher fan though who desperately wants to see his favorite Gopher players playing for the hometown team in the NFL.

Gladney and Winfield graded out very similar in terms of their draft profiles and Gladney fit a position of need more than Winfield. Sure, if you sat there today and said would you rather have Gladney or Winfield on your roster nobody in their right mind would pick Gladney. But that is using 2022 information that wasn't available when the pick was made in 2020.

And there were plenty of question marks about Winfield. He sustained 2 significant season ending injuries in college. It is easy after the fact to second guess the draft picks teams make just as it is easy to second guess decisions college teams make in recruiting a few years later.
 

MNVCGUY said:
You are viewing it through the lens of a Gopher fan though who desperately wants to see his favorite Gopher players playing for the hometown team in the NFL.

Gladney and Winfield graded out very similar in terms of their draft profiles and Gladney fit a position of need more than Winfield. Sure, if you sat there today and said would you rather have Gladney or Winfield on your roster nobody in their right mind would pick Gladney. But that is using 2022 information that wasn't available when the pick was made in 2020.

And there were plenty of question marks about Winfield. He sustained 2 significant season ending injuries in college. It is easy after the fact to second guess the draft picks teams make just as it is easy to second guess decisions college teams make in recruiting a few years later.
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True, but today we have the benefit of hindsight to show how much of a no brainer this really was. I did not know too much about Gladney coming out of college but I did see enough of Winfield to know he was a big time playmaker that you simply do not see every day. Plus he had the bloodlines and his dad was one of the best tackling CB's in NFL history. The Vikings blew it bigtime but at least Antoine is in a better place!!
 

to those with at least one foot in the NFL… would you say AWjr is a “hero” or “villain”?

Seems like he has a mildly villainous streak/persona he’s cultivating. I’m here for it, but I haven’t watched much nfl. Just wondering if my impression is on/off.
 


Gold Rush said:
True, but today we have the benefit of hindsight to show how much of a no brainer this really was. I did not know too much about Gladney coming out of college but I did see enough of Winfield to know he was a big time playmaker that you simply do not see every day. Plus he had the bloodlines and his dad was one of the best tackling CB's in NFL history. The Vikings blew it bigtime but at least Antoine is in a better place!!
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Clearly we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one. It wasn't a no brainer, 6 CB and 3 Safeties were drafted before Winfield heard his name.

It isn't like Winfield slipped to the late rounds of the draft and was overlooked by everyone. He was viewed as a very good prospect and was drafted in the 2nd round.
 

TNGophfan said:
No villain at all.
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The guy with a knack for coming up with a huge play at critical spots in the game is always a hero. He did that numerous times at Minnesota and he has done it a few times already with Tampa. He's not just good. He's a winner.
 

Dakota2 said:
The guy with a knack for coming up with a huge play at critical spots in the game is always a hero. He did that numerous times at Minnesota and he has done it a few times already with Tampa. He's not just good. He's a winner.
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That was probably the most surprising thing about the Kupp play at the end of the Rams game.....the fact that he didn't make the play. Would have been totally in his wheel house to lay out and find a way to knock that ball away at the last second.
 


Gold Rush said:
This is why you draft the best athlete available and not necessarily by position, especially for a hack like Gladney who ended up out of the league less than 2 years later. I don't care WHAT position Winfield played, the Vikings should have seen this guy was a playmaker and he was going to be an elite player for the next 10 years. Gopher fans who watched him beat Fresno St. not once but TWICE with spectacular plays would have told them this was an absolute no-brainer and I don't care where he plays you have got to get him here. You keep drafting guys like Gladney instead of Winfield and you end up getting fired......oh wait.
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Fresno State did not want to play the Gophers anymore after a double-dose of Winfield two years in a row. That is how impactful Winfield is. He is a game-changer.

It was disappointing that the Vikings did not take one of the best players available who is right in under their noses. They drafted for need. I get it. Winfield's body of work was out there.

2018: Winfield vs Fresno State

2019: Winfield vs Fresno State

NFL Draft Clip:
 
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hungan1 said:
Fresno State did not want to play the Gophers anymore after a double-dose of Winfield two years in a row. That is how impactful Winfield is. He is a game-changer.

It was disappointing that the Vikings did not take one of the best players available who is right in under their noses. They drafted for need. I get it. Winfield's body of work was out there.

2018: Winfield vs Fresno State

2019: Winfield vs Fresno State

NFL Draft Clip:
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Unbelievable!!!! What a sensational player! He was probably PJ Fleck's best recruit ever. (And yes I know he committed under the previous regime but he was gone after that scandal. Fleck had to put out a serious sales job to both him and his dad that things would be different.) We can all be glad that he was able to convince him to stick around!!
 


MNVCGUY said:
That was probably the most surprising thing about the Kupp play at the end of the Rams game.....the fact that he didn't make the play. Would have been totally in his wheel house to lay out and find a way to knock that ball away at the last second.
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Kupp's speed. Really good throw. But yeah, we would all anticipate somehow he would get there.
 

Dakota2 said:
Kupp's speed. Really good throw. But yeah, we would all anticipate somehow he would get there.
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Kupp ran a 4.62 40 at the combine so not blazing fast. Unless he's gotten faster since the combine.
 

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