Biggest risers from the 2022 college all-star events:

Oklahoma interior defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey

IDL Perrion Winfrey, Oklahoma

Isn’t it funny that the two biggest standouts for the most dominant position group (the D-line) at the Senior Bowl this year were both once number one JUCO recruits? I already discussed Jermaine Johnson wrecking shop while he was there, but Winfrey might have been the one guy to top him. Coming to Oklahoma (despite an offer from Alabama), Winfrey became a key cog for the Sooners right away, but he drastically increased his numbers this past season, when he recorded 11 TFLs and 5.5 sacks, while earning second-team All-Big 12 recognition at the end of both seasons in Norman.

The two things that always stood out to me when seeing Winfrey at OU was his interesting body composition at a rather slim 6’4”, 300 pounds, with that massive 85 ½-inch wing span and the fact he flashed more than he dominates at this point of his career, largely relying on his physical gifts. Well, he put it all together down in Mobile. Right from the start, he ran flat-out ran through a couple of small-school offensive linemen on day one with an overpowering bull-rush, to go along with his agility off the snap. Something I hadn’t really seen with the Sooners – I thought he did a great job of instantly getting to his secondary move and effectively landing hand maneuvers, if he didn’t win right off the snap.

His urgency, lateral agility and penetration were all outstanding, which also made him a problem to deal with in team drills. With that quick-twitch, he displayed the ability to be a game-wrecker, just crashing through gaps and creating chaos routinely. He recorded a couple of huge TFLs and a would-be sack on day two of 11-on-11s and, at one point, even ripped the ball out of the hands of a running back and jumped on top of it himself. Maybe more than anything, he was my favorite player to watch through the week, because of the energy and swagger he brought to the table, constantly pumping up teammates and flat-out having a great time. Finishing the week with finally getting a sack in the third quarter of the game doesn’t hurt either.

Winfrey’s ascent at this stage of the process is kind of reminiscent of what we saw from another former Oklahoma D-tackle in now-Cowboy Neville Gallimore, as both spent a lot of time in the A-gaps and were asked to slant, which isn’t necessarily where they get a chance to shine, compared to this practice environment, where guys get singled out and he was able to be highly disruptive. He inexplicably wasn’t voted the National team’s DT of the week, in favor of UConn’s Travis Jones, who physically overwhelmed blockers as well, but I thought, in terms of the way he practiced and lifted everybody else up, Winfrey could have been named MVP of the entire week.