Every year in the scouting process there are a few prospects who may not meet certain size or athleticism tiers that are typical of successful players at their position, yet most draft analysts fall in love with them anyway. Sometimes we get burned, and the flaws in our process are revealed. Sometimes we are proven right, and our hope in the underdog prospect is renewed once more.

It’s probably unfair to refer to Bucs rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr. as an underdog, especially after his dad tore up the NFL for 14 years as a cornerback for the Bills and Vikings. Still, Winfield is one of the shortest safeties in the entire league at 5-9, and spent most of his second and third collegiate seasons on the sideline nursing injuries, not exactly a recipe for future success in the NFL.

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Winfield spent four years in college, but was granted two additional years of eligibility due to injuries, which he bypassed after a 7-interception 2019 season in which he was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award (best defensive player in the nation). Still, Winfield’s stature and injury history scared off teams enough to allow the safety to fall all the way to the 45th overall pick.

But the thing about Winfield is that although he’s short, he isn’t small, as his 203-pound frame is easily heavy enough to check the box for a safety. And for all his season-ending injuries (hamstring and a torn ligament in his foot), Winfield hasn’t lost a shred of athleticism, running a 4.45 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine and jumping 36 inches in the vertical and 10’4″ in the broad.

Those traits have certainly help Winfield’s smooth transition to the NFL, but not as much as his heady approach to the game. Nobody in the Bucs organization can get two sentences into a response on Winfield without mentioning his intelligence as a football player, and how quickly he has picked up the defense.

“That man is smart,” safety Jordan Whitehead told the media on Wednesday. “You could tell his dad played and he’s been learning from him because just the way he handles himself, the way he carries himself in the building – he’s all about business. He asks us questions, and he makes his mistakes like everybody else, but he makes a lot of plays. That’s the biggest thing from him – he’s learning quick. He’s getting thrown around and I just love to see him out there because he’s definitely a great athlete.”

Early in the season very little is expected of most rookies around the league, as the abbreviated offseason has left them without crucial on-field reps and the ability to prove to coaches they can execute the playbook. Still, head coach Bruce Arians believes that Winfield could be an exception to the ‘new rule’ for first-year players.

“Very, very intelligent player,” Arians said on Monday. “It’s not too big for him. He’ll be competing for a starting job quickly.”

Even if Winfield doesn’t jump into the base defense as a traditional strong or free safety by Week 1, you can bet there will be a lot of opportunities for the defensive back to see the field in Todd Bowles’ 3-safety defenses. Bowles has always coveted multiple safeties, especially ones as versatile as Winfield at playing all over the defensive backfield. Expect Winfield to be a feature chess piece as the Bucs continue to deploy a ton of different pre-snap looks with their safeties.

“He’s a player that could be dime, nickel, back end safety,” Arians said. “His versatility allows him to be with any group of guys we want out there, whether it’s three corners, three safeties, whatever package we want to put in, he could be in there.”

Even the offensive players have noticed Winfield’s impact, with wide receiver Mike Evans bringing up Winfield unprompted to the media on Tuesday, praising the young defender for the multiple hats he’s been able to wear while still playing at a high level.

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Our safeties, they’ve been playing great,” Evans said. “I’ve been really impressed with Winfield, he’s very versatile – nickel, safety, be in the box, he can do it all.”

One of the biggest reasons the Bucs are so dead set on getting Winfield on the field, is that they believe he has the unique skill set to change the game in an instant. The same play-making skills that showed up last season at Minnesota for Winfield when he intercepted those seven passes and forced two fumbles have again reared their glorious head at training camp in Tampa Bay.

“The same can be said for Antoine Winfield, things are slowing down for him as well,” Bucs GM Jason Licht said in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday. “He just has that knack that he had in college, of just getting to the ball and making plays on the ball. Whether it’s a forced fumble, a PBU, an interception…he had a great one today off a tipped ball.”

Arians echoed Licht’s sentiments, even comparing Winfield’s talents to two of the best safeties in the entire league, both of whom Arians coached for a time in Arizona.

“[Winfield] created a fumble yesterday, recovered it, had a nice interception in the red zone today too,” Arians said, also in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday. “He’s a ball hawk. He’s kind of a cross between Budda Baker and Tyrann Mathieu. He plays a lot of positions, we love his skill set. He is a baller. He gets the game mentally. He’s always in anticipation mode. So he’s gonna have a heck of a future, just stay healthy.”

Given how the Bucs safeties struggled last year, I fully expect Winfield to step into the starting lineup early in the year. Last season Todd Bowles tried to do too much with Jordan Whitehead, and the now third-year safety struggled to maintain a high level of play while wearing so many hats. Winfield is much better suited for a versatile role in the secondary, playing in the slot or as a deep safety, which will allow Whitehead to position closer to the line of scrimmage as more of a traditional strong safety.

In that role, playing heavily in the box as a pseudo-linebacker and a blitzer in three-safety packages, and as a coverage option against tight ends, Whitehead’s best football could be ahead of him in 2020. Just another way Winfield’s presence will impact the secondary, by allowing other players to move into roles best suited for them.

Bucs SS Jordan Whitehead – Photo by: Getty Images

Eventually Winfield and Edwards will likely be the starters in base, and both of them certainly have desired versatility to their game, even to a degree that could excite Bowles. Edwards struggled as a rookie, but has reportedly been impressive in camp, especially as a deep safety. He’s not as good of an athlete as Winfield, which could mean that eventually the Bucs rookie ends up as the team’s preferable single-high safety at some point in the season.

Options are a good problem to have, and that’s what Winfield has given the Bucs, among other things. Arguably the three most important traits for a safety to possess in the NFL is ball skills, versatility and football intelligence, and Winfield has all three in droves. He may stand just 5-9 and not have the college resume that many other top prospects boast, but through the start of training camp, Winfield has looked more prepared to make an impact as a rookie than any of the other nine defensive backs Licht has drafted since 2014.