Bengals Nab Arkansas Cornerback Darius Winston
By Jason Marcum
Nov 23, 2012; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks cornerback Darius Winston (21) waits to be recognized for senior day before a game against the Louisiana State Tigers at Donald W. Reynolds Stadium. LSU defeated Arkansas 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Bengals have reportedly agreed to a deal with undrafted Arkansas cornerback Darius Winston. NFLDraftScout.com ranked him the 73rd-best CB prospect, and 719th-overall.
Year
Class
Solo
Ast
Tot
Loss
Sk
Int
Yds
TD
PD
FR
TD
FF
2009*
FR
6
0
6
0.0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2010*
SO
16
7
23
0.0
0.0
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
2011*
JR
10
8
18
0.0
0.0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2012
SR
3
2
5
0.0
0.0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Career
35
17
52
0.0
0.0
1
0
0
3
0
0
0
The only scouting report available on him at the moment is courtesy of the National Football Post:
"STRENGTHS – Winston is very quick and accelerates well. He closes out on the ball carrier quickly. His speed allows him to go sideline to sideline quickly, and if he blows his coverage, he has the speed to at least have the ability to get back into coverage. With a small frame, he still showed effectiveness in jamming at the line.WEAKNESSES – Winston does not have quick hips and has a tendency to open his hips too wide, not allowing him to change direction effectively when he blows coverage. In the games that were evaluated, Winston blew coverage consistently as he was not able to recover quickly enough. He will need to improve his backpedal as his footwork tends to be choppy. When going for the tackle, Winston does not have the frame and strength to make the hard hits and will go at the legs, making him miss.SUMMARY – Winston has a very quick athlete and can get down the field and sideline to sideline quickly. Winston will blow coverage on a consistent basis as he turns his hips wide and does not flip his hips quickly enough to recover fast enough. He does have the quickness and speed to recover and get down the field, but if the QB sees the blown coverage quickly enough, he will not have the chance to recover. He has poor tackling skills and will go at the ball carriers legs, making his vulnerable to missed tackles. Overall, Winston does not have the skill set needed to be an effective DB at the next level. His speed will get him looks and may be a guy that you can use in special teams, but he will need to improve his strength and improve his tackling."
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