Antoine Winfield Jr. Has Ronde Barber-Like Blitzing Ability

Antoine Winfield Jr. Paid Tribute To Ronde Barber On Sunday

After Antoine Winfield Jr.’s big sack, which led to a field goal in the first quarter and the Bucs’ first points of the day, he took his thumb and pointed to his Winfield nameplate on the back of his jersey – just like Ronde Barber used to do. Winfield told Pewter Report during this past week that it was indeed a tribute to Barber.

“Yeah, it was,” Winfield said, “And it was also a tribute to the Winfield last name with me being back in Minnesota. It was a tribute to both.”

Winfield played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, and his father, Antoine Winfield Sr., was a Pro Bowl cornerback for the Vikings from 2004-12 and was named one of the Top 50 Vikings of all time.

While Winfield Jr. grew up watching his dad’s highlights, since he was drafted by the Bucs in the second round in 2020, he started watching Barber’s legendary film, too.

“Yeah, since I’ve been here I’ve watched his highlights and how he played,” Winfield said. “Man, Ronde was a dawg. Just watching him move around and avoid blocks to get sacks and to get all those interceptions it’s something that I want to take and put into my game.”

Avoiding blocks is the name of the game for blitzing defensive backs. Winfield, who is in a contract year and is a big priority for the Bucs to re-sign, has the same knack that Barber had for making blocking backs miss.

“Basically, it’s a mindset that you’re not going to be blocked,” Barber told Pewter Report. “He approaches blockers like they’re not even there. Obviously, they scheme a lot of opportunities for him, too. Just a powerful dude with plenty of short-space quickness.”

Antoine Winfield Jr. Is A Takeaway Machine

Antoine Winfield Jr. has a penchant for creating takeaways. Half of Winfield’s 10 sacks have resulted in fumbles. Five of his six forced fumbles have come when sacking the quarterback, and he also has five fumble recoveries along with four interceptions in his first three years in the NFL.

Winfield’s first sack-fumble happened on his initial NFL sack against Teddy Bridgewater during his rookie season in 2020. Later that year, his second sack also resulted in a fumble against Cousins, who has now coughed up the ball twice on a Winfield sack.

“He is a wrecking ball of a football player,” Ronde Barber said on the Buccaneers’ Film Study video. “He reminds me of me, except for bigger and maybe a little bit more talented.”

One of Winfield’s five sack-fumbles also came against Chicago quarterback Justin Fields in a 38-3 win in 2021. Perhaps Fields will join Cousins as the second quarterback to become a victim of two Winfield sack-fumbles, as the Bears travel to Tampa Bay to play the Bucs on Sunday.

“You ain’t going to get much better than him as a cover guy, as a blitzer, as a tackler in the open field, as a ball hawk,” Todd Bowles said to WFLA’s Dan Lucas. “You’re not going to get a much better player that can play three different positions – nickel, both safety spots, emergency corner if need be, as well as down in the box. So ‘Win’ – when he is out there with us, we’re a better team.”