Summary

Andrew “Dewey” Wingard went undrafted in the 2019 Class out of University of Wyoming. Wingard brings toughness, smart play, and positional versatility to the safety position. His strengths lie in tackling, flexibility, and high effort. His main limitations are tied to range, elite‑level coverage traits, and making more big impact plays. With the right scheme and further development, he is a solid building block in the secondary with upside to be more.

Strengths

• Tackling & physicality near the line of scrimmage: Wingard has shown he can play aggressively in run support and make open‑field tackles. He was noted in his college scouting profile for reliability in tackling and stepping up in the box.

• Instincts & football intelligence: His experience and ability to read plays give him a steadiness in position and reaction that’s valuable in the secondary. His path from undrafted to multi‑year starter reflects his understanding of the game.

• Versatility in role: Wingard has played in various alignments — deep, box, nickel sub‑packages — which gives a defense flexibility. His 6′0″/200 lb frame aligns with modern safety/hybrid roles.

• Special teams value / value via effort: Early in his career, Wingard leveraged special‑teams play and high effort to earn defensive snaps. His willingness to contribute beyond just starts builds team trust. Wingard is an “energy bringer” in the secondary and has earned his reputation of holding other player accountable.

Weaknesses

• Coverage range & deep‑zone speed: One recurring critique: while solid in shorter zones and in the box, Wingard has shown limitations in bounding himself deep and matching speedier receivers, especially in deep coverage.

• Elite playmaking (turnover) consistency: His interception and pass‑deflection numbers are modest relative to elite safeties. For example, his career stats show fewer splash plays than top‑tier players at his position.

• Positional clarity / definitive role: Because he has a hybrid profile (box + deep + nickel), there is some question of his best long‑term role. Without a clear niche, his development may be less focused.

• Performance metrics / grades in coverage: According to recent PFF data, Wingard has ranked in the lower tiers among safeties in certain areas (e.g., run/coverage grades) at times. Black and Teal

Fit & Outlook

Wingard is best for a defense that uses safeties in multiple roles — strong zones, near the box, sub‑packages — rather than strictly as a deep center‑fielder. Teams that value adaptability and can mask matchups can maximize his skill set. If Wingard continues refining his deep coverage speed, adds more turnover production, and solidifies a consistent role, he can be a very good starter at safety. If those aspects lag, his floor is a dependable rotational/hybrid safety plus special‑teams contributor and “glue guy.”