Former Vikings CB Makes All-PFF Team of Last 25 Years
The Vikings had a cornerback notch an impressive achievement in our lifetimes; alert the presses and rally the troops. It’s kind of worthless at the same time, but a Minnesota Vikings cornerback getting recognition for good play by a well-respected platform like PFF can seem quite dumbfounding, given the franchise’s historically awful reputation at the position.
Without a doubt, the best Vikings CB of all time was Antoine Winfield Sr., an Akron, Ohio native and Ohio State Buckeye drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1999.
Here is PFF giving Mr. Winfield Sr. his well-deserved bouquet of flowers on the All-PFF Team of the Last 25 Years:
Winfield’s NFL career began in 1999, though even his seven remaining seasons in the PFF era yielded one of the best career marks of all time. He was among the 10 highest-graded players for his position in five out of seven years, and the top-graded player at his position three times between 2006 and when he retired in 2012.
While Winfield owns a top-10 PFF coverage grade all time (92.3), where he’s unique on this list of cornerbacks is that he also owns the best PFF run-defense grade (94.7) out of 355 qualifiers at the position since 2006. Winfield’s 107 run defense stops are tied for the second most of all time among cornerbacks, while his 2.47-yard average depth of tackle against the run ranks as the best mark among 137 qualifiers since 2006.
The Vikings can hang their hats on this one, given the names that were on the list alongside Winfield Sr. Here are some of those names:
- QB Tom Brady
- RB Derrick Henry
- WR Antonio Brown
- TE Rob Gronkowski
- LT Joe Thomas
- DI Aaron Donald
- LB Ray Lewis
- CB Richard Sherman
- CB Darrelle Revis
- S Ed Reed
- S Troy Polamalu
Not a bad lineup, huh?
Winfield Sr. was drafted in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the event. He spent five seasons in Buffalo until 2004, when he signed a six-year contract for $ 34.8 million in that offseason with the Minnesota Vikings.
This came after Winfield Sr. had verbally agreed to a deal with the Jets, but the Vikings came calling before the contract was inked, and thus, the Vikings landed the top-rated free-agent cornerback in 2004. The Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans were also in hot pursuit of Winfield Sr. alongside the Jets and Vikings.
In 9 seasons with the Vikings, Winfield Sr. amassed 21 interceptions and 737 combined tackles. Winfield was named to the NFL All-Pro team in 2008 and made three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2010. He was also appointed to the “50 Greatest Vikings of All Time” for the team’s 50th anniversary in 2010.
Winfield Sr. was released by the team after the 2012 season and signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2013. He didn’t make Seattle’s roster during the final wave of cuts on August 31st, 2013, and his retirement was announced later that same day.
