“It Was Just Exciting”
September 22nd, 2020
Baller.
The night the Bucs drafted Antoine Winfield this past spring, Joe was texting back and forth with someone who gets a paycheck from Team Glazer that Winfield sure seemed like a baller.
Granted, nobody in their right minds puts together a highlight video of rotten plays. But from what Joe saw of Winfield’s highlight video (Joe didn’t catch that many Gophers games), this guy was always around the ball. And Joe noticed how he would force spectacular turnovers.
So today, Winfield was asked while in a Zoom conference to break down his sack/fumble from Sunday’s win over the Stinking Panthers. Winfield sort of pulled back the drapes of his turnover mentality.
“My goal every time I am out there on the field is to go out there and make a play for my team and gives us the best opportunity to win,” Winfield said. “I went out there. I did my job. I created a turnover and it was just exciting. There is nothing like that moment when you are able to make a huge play.”
Joe wrote it previously and you will hear Joe speak about it on the next edition of the “Ira Kaufman Podcast.”
When you see Winfield blitz or attack the running back inside the box, it gives Joe flashbacks to Rondé Barber.
This guy Winfield is a baller.
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:23 am
STUD!!! ^^^
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:24 am
He is super quick.
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:26 am
He alright for a rookie but he’s no Carlton Davis.. you heard it here first, Pablo said it remember that
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:30 am
That Ronde Barber reference is accurate. You could see it in the Saints game. Winfield was just missing on blitzes but was danged close to making a huge play.
Glad Bowles seen he was effective at itzing and is continuing to use him there. Huge boost for our passrush.
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:31 am
winfield is a baller….
imo, he has made whitehead better….
CD is starting to come into his own….SMB is right behind right….
GO BUCS!!!!
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:33 am
Dude is a stud and people are definitely taking notice. I went to fansctics to purchase his jersey and they are sold out of most sizes (including my dang it)
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:36 am
I was worried about his size and quickness, so glad i was wrong about this kid.
Dude is a ball hawk and just keeps making plays.
Solid solid pick so far.
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:52 am
So far so good, I’m liking it
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:01 pm
And Derwin is out for the season… Again….
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:02 pm
Looks the part, for sure. I’m liking it.
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:04 pm
Brees showed last nigiht that he still has a bind spot for the shallow middle when under duress. Bucs linebackers used to routinely pick him off, I’m thinking Winfield will get him that way when the Saints come to Tampa.
My sone is a Gopher and we are exstatic about Winfield’s play and impact. Lookg for and hoping that Tyler Johnson gets right soon, after watching Grayson head Brady’s pass out of bounds on Sunday, we could use him.
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:15 pm
did he get credit for a whole sack or half a sack?
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:16 pm
Not a zero sum game re: Carlton Davis. Props to Licht and team for building a special young secondary full of emerging talent.
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:27 pm
Dude is all over making big tackles. What is Tyler Johnson deal??? Is he at least practicing???
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:32 pm
I am so impressed with Winfield. He reminds me of Jamal Adams in just the limited amount of time he’s played
September 22nd, 2020 at 12:45 pm
The only reason he fell to us is injury concerns. I think he was hurt like 2 whole years in college. As long as he stays healthy he is an all pro safety. He can blitz, play safety, nickel, etc… you can line him up all over the field. A true defensive swiss army knife.
September 22nd, 2020 at 1:14 pm
BREAKING NEWS: This just in – NFL player says ‘he is trying to make plays while in the middle of the game’ … What a life changing concept! Will this new attitude change the way we look at professional football? Possibly? …. Will it fundamentally change the Dynamics of the NFL??… Well,.. we’ll just have to see, stay tuned as we try and dissect this AMAZING revelation!!!! 🙄
September 22nd, 2020 at 1:36 pm
Love the additions of White last year and Winfield this year. Both of their college film showed them flying the field. This defense is definitely a strength now.
September 22nd, 2020 at 1:46 pm
Bucs fans will like this quote from PFF today:
‘It looks like Winfield will go down as one of the biggest steals of the 2020 NFL Draft.’
September 22nd, 2020 at 1:53 pm
Winfield and Wirfs are killing it like seasoned Pro Bowl alternates after ONLY 2 games (with 0 preseason).
How good are they going to be after they actually learn the playbook?
September 22nd, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Love how our defense is coming together nicely! These kids are going to keep us in games, and shorten fields. I can’t wait to see how they do against the Packers week 6.
September 22nd, 2020 at 2:22 pm
[Believe it or not, Joe is going to take the high road here. We’re all human. — Joe]
September 22nd, 2020 at 2:30 pm
BA & Bowles found their Honey Badger, 2020 version. AW is legit.
September 22nd, 2020 at 2:35 pm
Reminds me of a smarter more mature Tanard Jackson
September 22nd, 2020 at 2:43 pm
Winfield and Wirfs are ranked 8th and 9th per PFF among all rookies through the first two weeks of the NFL season.
September 22nd, 2020 at 2:45 pm
Joe, with all the nonsense you allow to be posted here, this was genuinely funny. I suppose you are closely connected to Greg so you gotta have his back, but really… given what you regularly allow to be posted ??? Unfair !
September 22nd, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Nope. Joe has made similar mistakes before too (on a bigger stage). Throwing rocks at someone for an honest, innocent mistake when Joe had done the same thing before is lame.
Joe and the man you reference are not close in any way. The dude even snears (sometimes) at Joe when we cross paths. That’s OK. He has nothing to do with Joe’s business in any way.
September 22nd, 2020 at 3:09 pm
I went back and rewatched the game last night, and just focused on Winfield at times, and man is he impressive – and the Ronde vibes are warranted at this point. He is such a fantastic tackler, he seems to have a knack for blitzing, and I haven’t noticed him in coverage — which is a good thing since you really notice safeties in coverage when they screw up or get burned. It certainly won’t be smooth sailing all year, but through 2 games, man am I impressed.
So glad Licht went and got a need instead of wasting a 2nd rounder on a RB like everyone on this board said the Bucs HAD to do.
September 22nd, 2020 at 3:53 pm
Antoine is super quick. He’s like the Tyreek Hill of safeties.
September 22nd, 2020 at 4:03 pm
Damn it feels good to have a contributing rookie, especially in the secondary.
September 22nd, 2020 at 4:05 pm
The ‘he is too short and too slow’ comments have seemed to have gone silent.
September 22nd, 2020 at 4:13 pm
Bucamania – I wouldn’t say he’s super quick, that didn’t stand out when watching him, but he’s just a super pro I’d say. He’s in the right place and is a fantastic tackler, he just seems to have a real feel for the game — which is not at all what you expect from a rookie in only his 2nd game at a position as complex as safety, which along with TE is probably the hardest positions for rookie players to learn.
Again, he’s going to have a bad game at some point and it will be interesting to see how he responds, but based on what we’ve seen so far, I’d expect him to handle it like a pro and go right back to playing at a pro-bowl level — and after two games he is playing at a pro-bowl level. But so is Whitehead, he looked fantastic as well. Bowles really has these two playing lights out right now.
September 22nd, 2020 at 4:43 pm
Ronde Barber, only faster, and stronger. Kid was all over the field, he gets it already. Grasshopper learned his lessons well from his pro bowl father.
September 22nd, 2020 at 6:27 pm
There’s a great breakdown by Ronde on the Bucs YT channel all about him.
Kid looks like the real fkn deal no doubt. And a 2nd rounder taboot (lol Licht)
The video also shows the key block from Evans that allowed Fournette to definitively get into the endzone after the o-line did a great job on their initial blocks.
September 22nd, 2020 at 6:29 pm
Winfield got there first and got the sack, but Lavonte absolutely flattened Bridgewater on that play.
September 22nd, 2020 at 6:58 pm
Ronde should be a 1st ballot hall of Famer, chill out with the garbage about he’s better than Ronde. It’s nonsense like that, that just makes people hate the idiots who post on message boards.
He does give Ronde ‘vibes’ – in that he plays a lot like Ronde in that he can tackle and seems to have a good knack for sacks, but it’s been 2 games you morons, chill out with the “better” than a HOF’er idiocy.
September 22nd, 2020 at 8:24 pm
I’m happy for this kid and for us. Licht is on one hell of a roll.
September 22nd, 2020 at 9:42 pm
Winfield is a stud. No OTAs, limited training camp and no preseason games… Baller 🚨
Defense is really good but for them to be elite, the offense is going to have to do its part by sustaining drives and keeping the defense fresh.
Go Bucs!
September 22nd, 2020 at 9:44 pm
“No one is always around the ball making plays than Ronde Barber
Corner blitz sacks, interceptions jumping routes, picking up fumbles
No one had this incredible enact timing to make these deciding plays over again again and in the biggest stages
Little Kobe grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs”
September 22nd, 2020 at 9:47 pm
“Jason Gump had nothing to do with drafting Winfield jr
This is Bowles/Arians pick 100%”
Kobe Faker
September 22nd, 2020 at 11:03 pm
BALLER
F’n A!
GO BUCS!!