Playing for Vikings would be ‘dream come true’ for Antoine Winfield Jr.

As the 2020 NFL Draft approaches, former Minnesota Golden Gophers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. would love to get picked by the Minnesota Vikings.

In just a few days, the Minnesota Vikings will provide a number of former college players with one of their most memorable moments in life when they use a selection on them in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Currently with 12 picks this year, the Vikings in a position to make a lot of dreams come true during the draft. Most prospects are typically fine with whoever ends up drafting them, but there are some this year who would love to be selected by Minnesota.

One of these prospects who would be extra excited to be drafted by the Vikings is Antoine Winfield Jr., who spent his college career not too far from U.S. Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota. Winfield, of course, is also the son of former Vikings cornerback, Antoine Winfield.

The younger Winfield is rated as one of the top safeties available in this year’s NFL Draft and he’s expected to come off the board sometime during the first three rounds. With a need at safety and five picks in the first three rounds, ending up with the Vikings is actually a legitimate possibility for the talented defensive back.

Winfield recently spoke to the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson and he talked about how great it would be to suit up for the purple and gold in the NFL.

"“I grew up a Vikings fan. I grew up around the area, so I’m familiar with it all. I was raised a Vikings fan and it would just be a dream come true to play for them.”"

Winfield is coming off a tremendous season for Minnesota in 2019. He appeared in 12 games for the Gophers last year and finished with 83 tackles (3.5 for a loss), seven interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

At 5-foot-9 and 203 pounds, Winfield is a bit on the smaller side. But like his father, he makes up for it with his impressive playmaking abilities.

Most draft experts have him coming off the board before the Vikings are set to make their selection in the second round at pick No. 58. So if Minnesota wants to keep Winfield in the Twin Cities, they’ll likely have to move up in the second round to land him.

This will be among the many storylines to pay attention to when the Vikings take part in the 2020 NFL Draft beginning on Thursday night.