Antoine Winfield needs to impress 49ers at 2020 NFL Combine

The San Francisco 49ers could use their first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on a safety, but a later pick suggests Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield would be someone the Niners watch at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Niner Noise’s Jeremy Wohlfart already laid out five of the San Francisco 49ers‘ likely safety targets in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The top names aren’t surprising, as Wohlfart broke down Alabama’s Xavier McKinney as the top option, unlikely to fall to the Niners’ first pick in the draft at No. 31 overall, while LSU’s Grant Delpit is one of those players on the fringes of the first and second rounds.

San Francisco won’t pick again, barring a trade down, until Round 5. If the 49ers elect to target another position first, a day-three safety might be more likely an option to possibly replace the veteran, Jimmie Ward, who is poised to hit free agency this offseason.

One of the players Wohlfart promoted was Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield:

"When you think of ballhawks in college football this season, it’s hard to look past the season Antoine Winfield Jr. had for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.Winfield had seven interceptions for the year, returning them for 98 yards and a touchdown. He also showed some talent on the blitz, totaling three sacks for the season."

Winfield is likely a prospect the Niners would be on the fence about before the draft, meaning the former Golden Gopher’s performance at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine could either convince San Francisco he’s worth a shot.

Or it could all but remove him from the 49ers draft board.

There are a few reasons why Winfield needs to have a strong NFL Combine to impress general manager John Lynch and Co. For starters, at 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds, there will be questions about Winfield’s hops and strength. His college tape suggests he plays stronger than his frame would suggest, although one will want the sheer combine numbers to reveal as much as possible:

Winfield will also want to have solid numbers in both his straight-line speed and agility drills, as those will reveal whether or not the 49ers could use him in a single-high safety role.

Early reports suggest Winfield could struggle in an over-the-top role, since he doesn’t quite have the converging speed or fluidity to react to quick decisions on the field. But if those raw numbers and times at the NFL Combine show up well for Winfield, it wouldn’t be shocking to see San Francisco flash a little more interest.

More importantly, Winfield could push up his draft stock from a possible fourth-round selection to going on the back end of day two, should he impress at the combine.

Winfield and all the other prospective defensive backs will do their workouts at the NFL Combine on Sunday, March. 1 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The 2020 NFL Draft will then kick off on Thursday, April 23 in Las Vegas.