Tight End
Kellen Winslow, Jr.
College: Miami
Year: Junior
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 240
Birthday: July 21, 1983
Strengths: Andre Johnson was the third pick in the draft, but Miami’s go-to guy in last season’s national championship game was tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr. Winslow, a/k/a “K2” or “Vin Diesel” or “The Chosen One”, would have easily been the game’s MVP had Ohio State not pulled off the upset. The Buckeyes had no answer for him, as he pulled down 11 receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown. Winslow also fulfilled his usual quota of highlight film catches, including one where he pinned the ball to the back of his helmet while taking a hit over the middle in mid-air. Not even his Hall of Famer father could believe that one.
Many observers consider Winslow to be the best pro prospect on the Miami campus, which is a bold statement when the school’s recent track record as a football factory is taken into consideration. Winslow has the soft hands, speed, and agility that most wide receivers would envy. Try to cover him with linebackers and he will run away from them, and try to cover him with a defensive back and he will outmuscle them. He makes acrobatic catches look easy, and a 6’4″ man with a 37″ vertical jump is not going to stay covered on too many jump balls.
Winslow is extremely competitive and has worked hard to improve on the skills that he comes by naturally. His father, Kellen Winslow, Sr., and his predecessor at Miami, Jeremy Shockey, have both schooled him in the finer points of the position. As if he were not already a fluid and graceful enough athlete, Winslow also took a flexibility class this past offseason that included some lessons in ballet.
Areas of Concern: Winslow lacks the bulk to be an effective in-line blocker at the NFL level. He is purely a receiving tight end or an H-back. While he is a hard worker who plays with great passion, the Miami coaches would like to see him step into more of a leadership role on the team.
How Would He Look in Steel Blue? Winslow has said that he will stay at Miami for his senior season if the Hurricanes do not win the national championship this year. If he comes out for the 2004 draft, he is the type of athlete and player that the Texans would have a hard time passing up even though tight end does not appear to be a position of great need. Winslow would give the offense another playmaker as well as upgrade the overall team speed. He will never be the blocker that Bennie Joppru could become, but even if Joppru does everything that the Texans reasonably hoped he could when they drafted him, he will never have Winslow’s ability to be a downfield threat.
(profile written by Warren DeLuca
)
Kellen Winslow, Jr.’s 2002 Stats G CTH YDS AVG TD 13 57 726 12.7 8
Kellen Winslow, Jr. 
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