The term “shutdown corner” gets thrown around a lot, and for good reason. Every team wants that true shutdown corner, the guy who can match up with a team’s top receiver one on one and stop him. A true shutdown corner is one of the most valuable assets to any football team.
Coach Chuck Priore believes he has one in Winston Longdon. “Winston’s been a great player in his two years of starting.
He started last year, had a great season, and I think he’s improved this year.
He’s a shutdown corner, plays a lot of our opponent’s better receivers” he said, speaking on his cornerback’s abilities.
A second year starter, originally from Brooklyn and a transfer from Nassau Community College, Longdon has started every game since last season’s opener, and has been a strong presence in the Stony Brook secondary throughout.
Last season, he notched 39 tackles, four for losses, and six pass breakups.
He played a big part in the Seawolves’ playoff run as well. “Last year winning the playoffs against Villanova, that was great,”
he said when asked about his favorite moment as a Seawolf. In that game, he helped keep Villanova from throwing a single touchdown.
This year, he hopes to do even better.
He has gotten off to a strong start, picking off his first career pass against Buffalo and making nearly half as many tackles (17) as he did last year in only three games.
“Personal goals? Basically, have a good season,” he said. “Have a good highlight tape,” he added in.
When asked how many interceptions he was aiming for, he replied, “At least five, yeah. That’s cool for me. If I get more than that, then yeah, I’m cool with that too.”
It will not be easy to put up those numbers for Longdon against Stony Brook’s new CAA schedule, only made harder by the loss of fellow cornerback Reuben Johnson to a season-ending injury.
But Longdon is up to the task. “It’s a way, way better schedule than the Big South Conference. We just gotta practice hard and attack the game like any other game,” he said. He definitely has one matchup on his mind. “JMU (James Madison University). I’ve heard a lot about them,” he said.
Longdon is a man born to corner. He models his game after New York Giants corner Aaron
Ross, known for his tough, gritty play.
“When I was coming out of high school, I watched a lot of his highlights and tried to implement, to emulate his style of play.” He admits he has areas to improve.
“My zone technique needs a lot of improvement. It’s not terrible but there’s a lot I can fix,” he said.
Coach Priore believes he can do it. “He practices hard, is focused and always excited to play the game,” he commented on Longdon.
Winston Longdon has a big year ahead of him.
As a senior, he is expected to be a leader of the Seawolves’ secondary. He is not a perfect
player, but no one is. Yet when it comes to man to man coverage, when you need to take the opponent’s top wideout out, there are few corners in the CAA as good as Winston Longdon, the shutdown Seawolf.
