Red Chip, For Now
July 3rd, 2022
Love from ex-NFL suit.
Bucs safety Antoine Winfield got serious props from a former general manager.
In Michael Lombardi,’s latest episode of his podcast, “GM Shuffle,” the former coffee fetcher for Bill Walsh, Al Davis and Bill Belicheat listed his blue chip and red chip safeties. There, Winfield was named a red chip but that label may not be for long.
Lombardi explained.
“To me, red chip players are solid starters,” Lombardi said. “They play on all three downs. They contribute towards winning. They are hard to take out of the game. They can make plays against elite levels of competition. And they are never a liability for your team.”
That sure sounds like Winfield.
Lombardi used a favorite phrase of Team Glazer when referring to Winfield, specifically, “The arrow is pointing up” for the Bucs’ third-year safety.
“Winfield is another guy that I think the arrow is up,” Lombardi said. “He had 88 tackles, two interceptions and he made six plays on the ball [passes defended]. He can go cover the slot. He can play some slot corner, which I think he is effective doing.
“He’s instinctive. He’s smart. He’s short. He’s little but I think he is really effective.”
Lombardi believes by the end of the 2023 season, he will be referring to Winfield as a blue chip player.
Every day that 2020 draft class by Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht — selecting Tristan Wirfs and Winfield with his first two picks — looks better and better.
July 3rd, 2022 at 9:05 am
Unfortunately, and like the rest of our secondary, he had at least 4 drops right in his hands.
July 3rd, 2022 at 10:01 am
Great young player. Smart, instinctual, tough, solid tackler and solid coverage skills.
Everything you want in a free safety aside from a bit more height.
Arrow pointing up indeed.
July 3rd, 2022 at 11:03 am
Can also be blitzed, really solid in run support for a player of his stature and not the fastest by any means, BUT shows great short area quickness pursuing the ball carrier. The one thing “bad” play I’ve seen Winfield make, was in that Dallas game the contact he made with SMB on that play trying to get to Lamb was actually how SMB broke his arm, cringe just thinking about it.
July 3rd, 2022 at 12:28 pm
Lombardi is an idiot, Winfield is already in the very top tier of safeties in the league. If he’s too dumb to know that, then his opinion doesn’t mean much.
July 3rd, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Todd can deploy him better once and if the secondary starters are healthy.
Put him up in the box to blitz and for run support occasionally, like in beginning of 2020.
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:50 pm
I wouldn’t put Winfield into the elite category yet. For someone who was a ballhawk in college I would expect more interceptions in the years to come. I’m not sure how fast he is but he is certainly a step slower than Cooper Kupp
July 3rd, 2022 at 7:18 pm
Winfield is far and away the best guy in our secondary.
July 3rd, 2022 at 8:20 pm
Reminds me a lot of Ronde Barber. All around skills and always around the ball. He has a long way to go to match RB but he’s off to a good start.