Could Antoine Winfield Jr. And Jordan Whitehead Be Used Differently In 2024?

Jordan Whitehead went through a similar renaissance in New York with the Jets over the past two years. Over the last two seasons, Whitehead played top-down almost exactly 50% of the time. That’s a 14% increase over his career splits during his first go-round with the Bucs, and 16% higher than when he was teamed with Antoine Winfield Jr.

The Jets run a lot of two-high safety looks in Cover 2 and Quarters coverages. In 2023, New York ranked 22nd in heavy box rates. On second down their rank fell to 23rd. Whitehead thrived in this role as he earned zone coverage grades of 69.1 and 77.9, respectively, while allowing just 0.55 yards per zone coverage rep.

Among all safeties with at least 300 coverage snaps last season Whitehead ranked 19th in zone coverage snaps per reception (24.3).

And he has shown he has ball skills the Bucs secondary has lacked recently. Whitehead recorded a career-high four interceptions last season in New York, including three against Buffalo Pro Bowl quarterback Josh Allen in the 2023 season opener.

It may be more fun watching it via dots.

Whitehead leveled up during his time with the Jets and it didn’t go unnoticed.

Whitehead has done all of this while still performing at a high level as a run defender.

Whitehead’s average depth of target last year was 17th among safeties with at least 238 run defense snaps and he had the most defensive stops (20) while finishing Top 10 in stop rate.

Antoine Winfield Jr. Has Ascended Into A Top All-Around Safety

Meanwhile, Antoine Winfield Jr. has proven himself to be great-to-elite in almost every facet of the game. In 2022, when he was used primarily as a slot corner, Winfield finished in the Top 25 in both snaps per target (7.7) and snaps per reception (10.4) while allowing less than one yard per coverage snap.

Then this past year head coach Todd Bowles turned Winfield into a full-on chess piece. The All-Pro’s numbers speak for themselves.

He posted 12 passes defensed, an NFL-leading six forced fumbles, six sacks, three interceptions and 18 pressures – all career highs. Winfield was one of the most impactful defensive players in football en route to an All-Pro nod despite being snubbed for the Pro Bowl.

The Bucs rewarded their second-round pick in 2020 by placing the franchise tag on him, which is worth $17.123 million. Tampa Bay is working towards a long-term contract extension with Winfield this offseason where he is expected to reset the market at $20 million per year.

Winfield’s ability to play centerfield was originally thought to be his superpower. But as it turns out, much like Superman, he has multiple superpowers.

His run defense grades over the past two years ranked second and first, respectively, among all safeties. And he has missed just 12 tackles in 202 opportunities since Whitehead left. That 5.9% missed tackle rate is one most linebackers would covet.

Improved Versatility Could Be Unlocked For Bucs

The improved versatility from both players should allow Todd Bowles the opportunity to use Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jordan Whitehead more than their predefined roles in 2020-2021 where Winfield was the single-high safety and Whitehead was in the box. That’s not to say that Bowles won’t put them in those familiar roles where they thrive. But it won’t limit him.

Winfield is too good near the line of scrimmage to not put him there on a semi-regular basis, especially with his penchant for blitzing and creating sack-fumbles. And with Bowles wanting to get better with the four-man pass rush in 2024, it should put Whitehead deep in two-high looks more. He has more than shown he can play that role well.

This could allow the Bucs to go with more Cover 2, Cover 4 and Cover 2-man looks this season if Bowles wants to go in that direction. All of those would theoretically put the defense in position to create more interceptions going forward.

Could these changes in usage that each player has gone through mean that they will have a different on-field workload in 2024? My guess is yes.