2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Perrion Winfrey

Embed from Getty Images
NAME: Perrion Winfrey

POSITION: Defensive Tackle

SCHOOL: Oklahoma

HEIGHT: 6’3”

WEIGHT: 290 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

A native of Maywood, Illinois, Perrion Winfrey attended Lake Park High School. He was not heavily recruited out of high school. Thus, Winfrey chose to begin his college football career at Iowa Western Community College. He compiled 55 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and one forced fumble during his two seasons there. Coming out of community college, Winfrey was rated as a four-star recruit and as the number one overall JUCO prospect by 247Sports. He chose Oklahoma over other top offers like Alabama, Baylor, LSU and Texas.

Sooner Stud

After joining the Sooners, Winfrey played in all 11 games and made eight starts for Oklahoma in 2020. He tallied 19 tackles, six tackles for loss and three pass breakups. Winfrey would go on to earn second-team All-Big 12 honors in 2020. In 2021, he was a starter in all 12 games in which he played. Winfrey finished with 23 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble. He earned second-team All-Big 12 honors for the second consecutive season. After the year, Winfrey competed at the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he won 2022 Senior Bowl MVP for his performance in the Saturday game.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

Functional Strength

Winfrey can seemingly overwhelm any opposing offensive lineman with his hand power and core strength. You often see him create significant movement upfront by not having to exacerbate extra energy. Elsewhere, there are instances in which he helps himself out by getting his hand power and weight on top of opponents. This can lead to blockers toppling into the turf. Or, they will often show sloppy footwork against Winfrey. This allows him to pick his spots more frequently. Finally, the strength allows Winfrey to control his anchor and maintain solid pad level during most trench battles.

First Step Explosiveness

There is plenty of awe-inspiring quickness to this large defender’s get off. The first step of Winfrey is not just quick and lethal either. In fact, it is also rather long, in terms of depth. As a result, he is able to get so deep into the blocker’s pocket, that they are then forced to shift and turn quickly. Not all offensive linemen have the coil or hip flexibility to battle against Winfrey, especially from the interior. His short area burst is more present than any kind of long speed. On the other hand, there will be instances where Winfrey will still surprise opponents, because of his nimble footwork and large strides.

Run Defending

Winfrey is able to win reps quickly against the run. Because of his mammoth length and immense power, he is able to shake off of blocks at a rapid pace. He also creates separation and time for himself with a swift hand technique. His ability to stack and shed blockers both vertically and laterally alike, make Winfrey an efficient run defender. He can certainly control gaps, if need be. Though, that may not be something that can be constantly expected throughout the duration of games. Winfrey also showed improvement in reading the backfield and play direction when facing runs in this most recent season.

Versatility

You may not expect it with his tremendous size, but Winfrey can certainly excel from multiple positions on the defensive line. He often played over the top of the opposing center as a nose guard while at Oklahoma. Meanwhile, he was able to shift from 3-tech to 5-tech in four-man fronts. Winfrey was a pest when it came to crashing hard when angling across the offensive line’s interior. On top of that, this defender is most comfortable and confident when asked to get vertical and disrupt in an attacking role.

Hand Counters

The violence is where Winfrey will win most reps right now. His most utilized hand counter moves include a rip move, a swim move and a long-arm move. All three of those help Winfrey create significant movement and separation between he and the opposing blocker. Occasionally, he will throw in a slingshot move, where he pulls the defender forward, before pushing around them. With his hand power and hand placement, there is plenty of potential for Winfrey to grow further in this area.

Football IQ

His recognition of different blocking concepts is where Winfrey stands out in this area. The reaction ability that he has to perform quick, urgent hand counters, while still adjusting his body positioning is a major catalyst for his production. The same thing can be said when Winfrey is allowed to time up the snap. That read and react ability upfront is a major bonus, given that he can align from multiple defensive line positions. There are still some moments where Winfrey could be a little cleaner and safer. His franticness led to too many crippling penalties, like offsides. Focusing more on the little things will help Winfrey more overall.

Lateral Mobility

Winfrey can carry and wall off offensive linemen when facing outside run plays. During those moments, he is rather reserved and subdued, before exploding or switching inside of their front hip. Winfrey has had some inconsistencies with sifting through traffic when working across the opponent’s face. The same thing can be said when he is traveling laterally in space, to boot. Additionally, there are moments where Winfrey gets caught battling and uses too many wasted movements. He can get lost in the shuffle, so to speak, and be taken away from the play direction, as a result.

Flexibility

There are definite questions surrounding his body control. The more that Winfrey has to loop or take long tracks to get to the quarterback or ball carrier, the earlier he runs out of gas. Winfrey has his pad level and upper half become much more stiff, due to that. There is only so much that he can provide on twists and stunts upfront. If Winfrey is unable to win immediately or shed blocks, there is a cap on his overall ceiling, as things currently stand.

CHIEFS FIT

The Kansas City Chiefs have a larger need than some may realize at defensive tackle. Alongside Chris Jones, Kansas City would benefit by adding a similarly dense, powerful and surprisingly quick defender at the defensive line’s interior. Perrion Winfrey would provide just that. He is someone who can provide production against both the run and the pass. While he may still need more overall refinement, Winfrey quickly grew in his short two years at Oklahoma. He is simply difficult for offensive linemen to handle. Most of all, his energy and passion is infectious in the defensive front.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles throughout this spring. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.