Dee Winters

Winters was born on October 17, 2000, and grew up in Burton, Texas, a small town west of Houston that had only one gas station.^[2] He played football at Burton High School and was a two-way player, although he was primarily used at wide receiver.^[3] A three-star recruit, he ranked as the 87th-best player in the state and committed to TCU over Arkansas, Northwestern, Arizona State and Texas Tech.^[3][4]

Although recruited as a safety, Winters' position was quickly changed to linebacker when he arrived at TCU.^[5] As a true freshman, he appeared in 11 games, two of which he started, and posted 28 tackles and a sack.^[3] The following year, he won the starting job, started all 10 matches and placed second on the team with 65 tackles, 9.5 of which were for a loss.^[4][6] He remained a starter in 2021, starting all 12 games and leading TCU with 74 tackles while being third on the team with five tackles-for-loss.^[4]

As a senior in 2022, Winters led a defense that brought TCU to the national championship game, earning first-team All-Big 12 Conference honors after tallying 79 tackles, the fourth-best on the squad, a team-leading 14.5 tackles-for-lossp (tied with Dylan Horton), and 7.5 sacks, placing second on the team.^[4] He was named most valuable player of their playoff semifinals win over Michigan after recording seven tackles, three of which were for a loss, a pass breakup and a 29-yard interception return touchdown.^[4] After the season, he was invited to the Senior Bowl.^[4] At the time of his graduation, Winters was the career leader in stops among active TCU players.^[4]

Winters was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round (216th overall) of the 2023 NFL draft.^[10]