“Ranting And Raving” About Antoine Winfield
May 30th, 2024
Antoine Winfield, Jr.
Was it a career year in 2023 for Antoine Winfield Jr? Or was it a step up to a potential Hall of Fame-worthy career?
Joe has no clue, and Joe can’t expect Winfield to continue working miracles at the pace he did last season. However, some very big names have no issue crowning Winfield as a living legend.
In their “Crystal Ball” series for NBC, retired stud safety Rodney Harrison named Winfield as his 2024 safety of the year. Apparently, this was no bandwagon pick by Harrison of the NFL’s highest paid defensive back.
“He probably should have been Defensive Player of the Year last year, Coach,” Harrison told Tony Dungy. “That’s what we were ranting and raving about.”
No disagreement was forthcoming from Dungy, the Hall of Fame head coach and former Bucs commander (1996-2001).
Dungy pointed to Winfield’s diverse stats and “just elevating his team’s play, adding he considers Winfield a tick better than Ravens All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton.
“He’s just beginning to see what he can do,” Dungy said of Winfield in Todd Bowles’ defense.
May 30th, 2024 at 1:35 pm
Have you realized that all this just begun when Bruce Arians took a sit in the RJ Stadium and watch a bowl where Minnesota University was playing and he saw by first hand Winfield Jr. Game Level?
May 30th, 2024 at 1:36 pm
This sounds like The Oracle talking about Neo.
May 30th, 2024 at 1:48 pm
Go Bucs
May 30th, 2024 at 1:54 pm
Winnie is who he is. He has the desire and work ethic to be great and is just coming into his prime age. From what I’ve seen and heard he will only get better from here. At the end of the day the question really is will the broader nfl fan base and powers the be give a smaller market player the respect he deserves?
May 30th, 2024 at 2:12 pm
I wish Bowels would retain Dungy as a consultant and help teach the secondary how to play zone effectively. Bowels has proven he can’t.
May 30th, 2024 at 2:53 pm
Just like we’ve all seen the players that coast after getting their big contract, we’ve all seen players that seem to step up their play each and every year.
From the stories I’ve been hearing(Thanks Joe), Winfield is the “step up” type.
Future Hall of Famer!
May 30th, 2024 at 4:23 pm
@ El Bucco Realisto -With Dungy as a consultant last year Philly would have beaten us at The Licht House!!!!!
May 30th, 2024 at 4:26 pm
I can’t wait to see where he ranks in that NFL top 100 they do every year. Something tells me he’ll be incredibly underrated.
May 30th, 2024 at 5:13 pm
OMG!! What if the light comes on and he gets that Ed Reed pick 6 vibe. Thats the next step for him
May 30th, 2024 at 5:40 pm
Realistic- optimistic.
Neo.
Yeah, that nickname really fits Winfield, Jr.
some of his moves last year looked super human
May 30th, 2024 at 8:08 pm
I call him dueces
May 30th, 2024 at 8:41 pm
ATLBUC – Agree ! I think he’s going to take that next step, especially now that he doesn’t need to worry about playing both Safety positions at the same time ( Jordan Whitehead is back ) and now he can focus on his play and not worry about the guy next to him (Ryan Neal) .. Go Bucs
May 31st, 2024 at 6:10 am
Mr. Pear: The problem with bringing Dungy back as a defensive consultant is that he runs the Tampa 2 D. That D is as antiquated as the West Coast offense.