Tale of the Tape: What is Penn State getting in new commit KJ Winston?
The Penn State Nittany Lion football program is rounding out its secondary as the Class of 2022 comes to a quick close at the end of July.
Safeties coach Anthony Poindexter got his guy Saturday in three-star DeMatha Catholic safety KJ Winston. The Nittany Lions were once again able to find an underrated three-star prospect who chose Penn State over Maryland.
Winston shows some special qualities in his film that hint at massive upside in his potential. Let’s review what they are.
Strengths:
Aggression: It’s not just Winston’s tackling that is impressive, though that is what stands out most as a safety. Everything Winston does on the field is done with confidence. Even as a freshman he used his quickness, technique and toughness to dictate the interactions as a blocker on offense, as a receiver with the ball in his hands, and as a tackling force. His game sings on tape.
Explosive Speed: The speed and quickness that Winston plays with on the field are advanced for a high school athlete. He has a bouncy, bursting stride that eats up ground quickly and creates momentum that leads to power at the point of contact. This speed allows him to align deeper at safety than most players could and still make plays on the ball in both the passing game and in the running game.
Anticipation and Ball Skills: The most exciting part of Winston’s tape is that all of that speed is enhanced by good anticipation and confidence when breaking on passes. Winston doesn’t just pick off lollipops thrown by high school QBs on film, but rather he’s jumping routes with anticipation. If he’s able to do that at the Division I level, that will make him a star.
Related: 10 Thinks to Know following KJ Winston's commitment to Penn State
Areas of Development:
Coverage Diagnostics: Most of this will deal with channeling his aggressive playing style into the most positive form of itself. With that in mind, if you’re going to anticipate and break on balls as a deep safety, you have to be sure you're right. Falling for play fakes and being moved by the quarterback's eyes at that position can mean big plays and long touchdowns for the offense.
Open Field Tackling: With limited tape on his junior season this is more of an unknown than an area of real concern. There were some issues of missed tackles while rallying to the football for the DeMatha defense as a sophomore, especially against better competition. There were some truly great plays in both seasons as well and he did seem to improve during the film analysis of his junior season. Yet, without an extended view, it’s hard to be certain.
Clean Hits: There are one or two risky hits on players that, if Winston isn’t careful, could be targeting penalties in college. With all of these areas of development you don’t want to limit his aggressiveness, but simply keep him on the field in a productive manner. There’s so much to like that it’s simply about fine-tuning and continuing to refine his playing style.
Projection:
Boundary Safety: It would be hard to keep Winston out of the box on a regular basis with his size and hitting force. He is a runaway train when he gets the opportunity to be and he can clean up defensive mistakes with great range. His speed and downhill explosiveness could make him a player that can play deep to shallow without much trouble.
Field Safety: The reality is that Winston shows so many tools on tape that he comfortably fits in either position for the Nittany Lions. He shows the lateral agility and quickness to stay with players in man coverage, along with the ability to patrol deep as a single-high safety. That versatility will give Penn State options with the 2022 recruiting class, and on game day. Winston’s profile as a safety has very few holes and has some superstar potential if he can continue to accentuate his anticipation skills and range.
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