Titans Praised for Kevin Winston Jr. Pick

The Tennessee Titans' highlight of the 2025 NFL Draft came with their top pick in the first round of Miami's Cam Ward, and rightfully so. The team has effectively found their franchise quarterback of the future and ironed out questions at a major position of need with a talented potential star to come.

However, when digging a bit deeper in the Titans' batch of prospects beyond their top pick, there's one player in the mix that arises with a ton of appeal in terms of value and potential fit that the team managed to pick up later down the board: Penn State safety Kevin Winston Jr.

Winston Jr. was picked up with the No. 80 selection in the draft at the top of the third round, and since the selection, Tennessee has gotten no shortage of praise for the move. NFL.com's Gennaro Filice is the latest to commend the Titans for their draft pick, calling Winston Jr. his favorite of their entire class.

"I can’t factually state that Winston’s partially torn ACL in early September is the only thing that kept him from coming off the board on Thursday night, but I think it’s a fair thing to consider," Filice wrote. "He has the size, speed and physicality of a first-round safety. And given that he ran a 4.50 40 at Penn State’s pro day, less than six months after knee surgery, it would appear his recovery’s coming along swimmingly."

For Winston, it all comes down to if/when his knee injury heals fully and allows him to come back to 100% at the next level. If he can do that, it'll mean massive things for the future of this Titans defense.

During the last season in which he was fully healthy, Winston was an impact player in the back end of the Penn State defense. He collected 61 total tackles, five passes defended, and an interception through 12 starts.

If the Titans can get first-round-esque value and production out of Winston Jr. in due time, it'll be a major win to walk out of this draft with, considering he fell into their laps toward the end of day two. He could be a high-risk, high-reward investment, but for a team like Tennessee, it's well worth taking on.