Kevin Winston Jr., Penn State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Winston was a four-star recruit from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. in the class of 2022

Kevin Winston Jr. is a tall and long safety from Penn State with the athletic traits to be a significant supporting piece in run defense. He has been exposed to a diverse set of coverage responsibilities at Penn State and projects as a top 100 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Visit my Twitter account @Sam_Teets33 for more opinions on prospects, clips, and the latest football content.

Kevin Winston Jr., S Penn State: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior strong safety from Columbia, Md.

Background: Winston was a four-star recruit from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. in the class of 2022. He was the No. 342 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 300 for On3.com. Winston was an unranked four-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 79 grade out of 100. He lettered four times in high school, was a captain twice, and earned team MVP honors twice. He was the All-Met State Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and earned All-WCAC honors. Winston totaled 50 tackles, three interceptions, ten passes defensed, a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown, two blocked field goals, and five touchdowns as a senior. He was an All-WCAC honorable mention as a sophomore when he tallied 30 tackles and two interceptions, including a pick-six. Additionally, Winston competed in indoor track and field. He posted a 23.67 200-meter dash, a 36.33 300-meter race, and a 49.93 400-meter race. Winston’s father, Kevin, played defensive end at James Madison University.

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: 2023 Honorable Mention All-Big Ten

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, never penalized, arm length should exceed DB thresholds, quick backpedal, fluid transition from backpedal to opening hips and running horizontally, good instincts and anticipation, reads and anticipates routes at the intermediate and deep levels, reads the quarterback’s eyes, closing burst, quick to click and close on underneath routes, patient at the top of the stem in man coverage, doesn’t shy away from contact, quick to come downhill in run support, good recovery speed to make up for poor angles, pursuit range, instances of turning the RB back inside to his DL and protecting the edge, length helps to engage and separate from WR blocks, speed makes him difficult for climbing linemen to pin down, long arms expand tackle radius, comes to balance on tackle attempts, wrap up tackler who rarely misses, undeterred by stiff arms, hustles to join pile-up tackles

Cons: A little high-hipped, not quite sideline-to-sideline range in coverage, focus on the QB sometimes leads to fading awareness of WRs in zone, moved by eye manipulation, anticipation could be a step quicker when reading QB, doesn’t give his instincts enough credit and misses opportunities to jump routes, inaccurate punches in press vs. TEs, too loose at the stem’s peak on short routes, steep angles coming downhill, over-aggressive downhill approach opens space for ball carriers, gap integrity when operating in the box, responsible for allowing several big runs vs. Michigan (2023), height allows slot receivers to get leverage on him for blocks, caught playing with a high pad level, needs to refine stack and shed timing

Overview: Winston has special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. He plays in a wide variety of roles for Penn State, including single-high free safety in Cover 3, dropping down as the robber, playing soft-shoe press in the slot against tight ends like Colston Loveland, two-high looks in Cover 4, box snaps behind mugged up linebackers, single-high safety in short-yardage loaded box situations, and some nickel in Cover 1. Winston also rotates from single-high into two-high looks post-snap or from two-high down to cover the flat in Cover 3. His arm length should exceed thresholds for defensive backs. The Maryland native is high-hipped and doesn’t have sideline-to-sideline range in coverage despite still offers good range. Winston has good instincts to read or anticipate routes at the intermediate and deep levels of the field. He reads the quarterback’s eyes to close throwing windows or undercut routes. This focus on the quarterback sometimes leads to a lack of awareness of pass catchers floating around his zone. Winston bites on eye manipulation, and his reaction speed needs to be a step quicker when he recognizes the quarterback homing in on a target. He misses opportunities to jump routes with his excellent closing burst because he doesn’t trust his own instincts enough. Winston is quick to click and close on underneath routes to limit yards after the catch. The junior shouldn’t be tasked with many man coverage reps in the NFL, but when in man coverage, he is patient at the top of the stem and doesn’t declare his hips too early. His punches in press against tight ends are inaccurate, and he prefers to play loose at the stem’s peak on shallow routes instead of crowding the receiver and completely choking out throwing windows. Winston doesn’t shy away from contact as a run defender. He quickly comes roaring downhill in run support. His steep angles and over-aggressive approach open space for running backs, but he has the recovery speed to make up for many of these poor angles. The former four-star recruit’s pursuit range is impressive. He doesn’t have great gap integrity when playing in the box and allows some big plays because of his inconsistent discipline. However, he can set a nice edge and turn ball carriers back into cluttered boxes. Winston’s length helps him separate from stalk blocks, but his height and high pad level allow slot receivers to get leverage on him. He needs to refine his stack and shed technique. Winston’s speed allows him to dodge climbing linemen. The safety has a large tackle radius. He comes to balance as a wrap-up tackler and rarely lets a player escape his grasp.

Overall, Winston’s diverse coverage responsibilities at Penn State won’t translate perfectly to the league, but he can carry over some of his versatility as a productive run defender and possible matchup for tight ends. Cover 2 is his safest projected scheme. He needs to improve his discipline in the run game and awareness while reading the quarterback.

Role & Scheme Fit: Strong safety in Cover 2; Chess piece with size

Round Grade: Third Round

Size: 6'2", 206 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 07-07-24