Countdown to Kickoff 2024: 13 Days

Dee Winters was a First-Team All-Big 12 linebacker and Defensive MVP of the 2022 Fiesta Bowl CFP Semifinal

13 | LB Dee Winters (2019-2022)

A heat seeking missile on the football field Dee Winters was a fearsome force on defense for the Horned Frogs. A three-star safety prospect out of Burton, TX, Winters quickly transitioned to the linebacker room where he’d make an instant impact, seeing action and making plays in every game of his true freshman campaign, including four tackles in his first game on campus and his first career sack in the win at Purdue. His stats would take off in 2020, becoming the team’s second-leading tackler with 65 stops in the COVID-shortened campaign. Winters became a mainstay in the starting lineup in 2021, leading the Horned Frogs with 74 tackles and two interceptions, with double-digit stops in games vs. Texas Tech and West Virginia.

Winters’ production exploded under new Defensive Coordinator Joe Gillespie’s 3-3-5 base defense in 2022, creating havoc for opposing offenses with 7.5 sacks and a team-best 14.5 tackles for loss, earning First-Team All-Big 12 honors, leading TCU to an undefeated regular season, a bid to the College Football Playoff, and trip to the National Championship. Winters delivered his iconic Horned Frog moment in the Fiesta Bowl CFP Semifinal, intercepting a 3rd quarter J.J. McCarthy pass and returning it 29 yards to the house as TCU would go on to knock off the Michigan Wolverines.

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

Winters would be selected in the 6th Round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. After a solid rookie season that saw him play in the Super Bowl, logging 11 total tackles on the season, including one in the Playoff win over Green Bay, Winters is now pushing for a starting role in 2024.