Tennessee Titans' Kevin Winston Jr. named a Top 10 instant impact rookie by CBS Sports

[ASFN Admin]

Leading into the NFL draft, the Tennessee Titans' focus was on Cam Ward and how they were going to build around their young quarterback.

While they did that in free agency and on Day 3 of the draft. Day 2 of the 2025 NFL draft focused on improving a defense that was up-and-down in 2024. On the second night of the weekend, the Titans selected edge Oluwafemi Oladejo and safety Kevin Winston Jr.

Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports believes that one of those two selections will be an overwhelming success and one of his Top 10 instant impact rookies for 2025.

9. Kevin Winston Jr., S, Titans

Instead of either of the first-round tight ends who find themselves in crowded skill-position rooms in Indianapolis and Chicago respectively, I'm taking a big swing here with a safety who spent most of the pre-draft process injured and was a third-round selection.

When healthy, Winston was that good at Penn State roaming the deep middle and flying to the football on outside runs. One of my favorite stats for any prospect in the 2025 class: Winston did not miss a tackle on 506 snaps as a sophomore in 2023 while making 61 tackles, three of which were tackles for loss.

After tearing a knee ligament in September, Winston was able to sneak in a workout right before the draft, and ran 4.51 at over 6-1 and 213 pounds. He's a supercharged mover on the field with ridiculously long arms that help not only knock away passes but defeat blockers blocking his path to the football. Tennessee was desperate for a true leader in the back seven of their defense, and I genuinely believe they selected that next player for them at No. 82 overall.

Winston would definitely have been taken higher if the majority of his 2024 campaign was not wiped out by a knee injury suffered in September. The explosive defender is a tone setter in the secondary and was a tremendous value in the third round.

The Titans needed to add a young safety to the mix in the secondary and he is just that. After the draft, general manager Mike Borgonzi addressed the injury concerns and stated that the medical staff believes Winston will be a full participant in training camp and should be able to come in and compete for playing time early in his career.

This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Titans' Kevin Winston Jr. named a Top 10 instant impact rookie

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