Three years ago, Dee Winters capped off an impressive senior season for the national runner-up TCU Horned Frogs, recording 79 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, a fumble recovery, an interception, and a touchdown.
The linebacker ranked among the team’s top three in nearly every major defensive category. He finished his college career with 246 tackles, 35 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and three interceptions. Yet despite his illustrious career in Fort Worth, Winters slipped
to the 216th pick in the NFL Draft, where the San Francisco 49ers finally called his name.
Coming off a 13-4 season, the 49ers already boasted one of the league’s best linebacker tandems in Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, plus reliable depth in Azeez Al-Shaair and Oren Burks, when they drafted Winters. As a result, the former Horned Frog saw limited action as a rookie, appearing in 15 games primarily on special teams. The Texas native finished the year with 10 tackles and a pass deflection.
Nonetheless, Winters gained valuable experience in his first professional season, learning behind some of the league’s best defenders and even suiting up in the Super Bowl, where he logged 23 snaps on defense and special teams.
After their Super Bowl run, the 49ers were forced to replace Greenlaw, who tore his Achilles against the Kansas City Chiefs. Rather than elevating Winters, San Francisco turned to longtime Falcon De’Vondre Campbell. Despite posting solid numbers, Campbell was abruptly released by the end of week 14.
That opened the door for Winters, who flashed down the stretch with 22 tackles over the 49ers’ final three games of 2024. Riding the momentum of his late-season surge, Winters entered 2025 as San Francisco’s starting will linebacker, lining up next to Warner in the middle. In the opener against Seattle, he recorded six tackles and two tackles for loss while playing all 52 defensive snaps.
Week 2 brought another strong performance against the New Orleans Saints, as Winters played 97.2 percent of San Francisco’s defensive snaps. He finished with eight tackles and several highlight-worthy plays, including a third-down stop where he was seemingly shot out of a canon to drop his former TCU teammate, Kendre Miller, for just a one-yard gain.
According to Pro Football Focus, Winters ranked as the 49ers’ fifth-highest graded defender in the Week 2 win and owns the second-best coverage grade among linebackers through two weeks. In fact, his early impact has already eased the loss of Greenlaw, who departed for Denver on a three-year, $31.5 million deal. With Winters alongside the four-time All-Pro Warner, San Francisco finally appears to have found another reliable weakside linebacker. And while it’s still early, the 25-year-old has quickly made a name for himself—with a Pro Bowl nod by season’s end well within reach.
