Seahawks Draft: TCU’s Dee Winters is a ‘run-and-hit missile’ linebacker

Brock Huard‘s Seahawks Draft Profiles roll on, and on Tuesday, he broke down a standout from one of the top teams in the country in 2022.

That player? TCU linebacker Dee Winters, a captain on the Horned Frogs’ College Football Playoff runner-up squad last year.

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Winters, a first-team All-Big 12 linebacker, was a favorite of Huard’s as he called a few TCU games for FOX Sports.

SECOND PICK SIX OF THE NIGHT! DEE WINTERS!! 🔥

📺 @ESPNCFB #Big12FB x @TCUFootball pic.twitter.com/SpMAriipkI

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) December 31, 2022

“He plays a position of need for the Seahawks, which is linebacker. They need run-and-hit missiles at linebacker,” Huard said. “Now, I would like to see them take (a linebacker) in the second round … If they come out of this draft with two or three D-linemen and two or three linebackers, yours truly would be satisfied.”

The TCU standout was a 5-star recruit out of high school who initially faced questions about his position. He wound up being a four-year starter at linebacker and a team captain while displaying phenomenal athleticism.

“He grew into a captain, he grew into an all-conference performer this year, he grew into a 5-foot-11, 230-pound linebacker that at the combine ran 4.49 (seconds in the 40-yard dash) with a 1.56 (second) 10-yard split,” Huard said. “That’s faster than a lot of receivers run, and you’re doing that at the linebacker level.”

Winters is likely a Day 3 pick, Huard said, because he lacks ideal NFL linebacker size and there will be concerns about his body holding up. But the Seahawks make sense as a landing spot for the talented defender.

“You play a ‘bear front,’ you cover him up and he plays (weakside linebacker) and he runs sideline to sideline and knocks people’s block off. I’m good with that,” Huard said.

Two things really stand out about Winters over the last year, Huard said, the first being hat he registered 7.5 sacks from an insider linebacker spot.

“That’s a guy that finds a ball. That’s a guy that’s instinctive,” he said. “That’s a guy that’s not ‘Velcro’ when he blitzes, and he understands the game and he sees the game. I liked that at linebacker.”

Secondly, Winters got after it in the weight room for his final college season, which was his first under the Horned Frogs’ new coaching staff.

“Dee Winters in one year with a new strength staff added 19 pounds of fat-free mass,” Huard said. “You only do that by being totally disciplined, totally committed and totally working your butt off your senior year to … elevate a program to places it had never been. And you’re the captain of that crew and you’re getting it done defensively? You intrigue me and I like you as part of my program.”

Listen to the entire profile on Winters at this link or in the player below.

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