Dee Winters

Dallas Cowboys

Pos LB

Updated October 8, 2026

Compare Dee Winters LB rankings →

Model Score

76.2 MODEL

2024

70.9

2025

79.9

2026

76.2

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

Tier 8 (#72) to tier 7 (#55) one-year improvement for a 216th overall 6th-round pick puts Winters on a modest developmental arc. The TCU 2022 AAC DPOY plus the 49ers' position-specific coaching gives him basic college foundation. The 2026 question is whether Winters crosses into tier 6 territory or whether the role compresses to swing depth as the 49ers' multi-year rotation continues.

Winters came out of TCU as the San Francisco 49ers' 6th-round pick (216th overall) in 2023 after winning the 2022 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He spent two years as developmental depth before emerging into a rotational role in 2025. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#72) in 2024 to tier 7 (#55) in 2025.

Strengths

TCU 2022 AAC DPOY plus the 216th overall draft slot gives him real Group of Five pedigree.
17-spot year-over-year improvement from tier 8 (#72) to tier 7 (#55) confirms developmental trajectory.

Concerns

Career STTM range mostly tier 7-8 caps the realistic 2026 ceiling at rotational depth.
San Francisco's broader defensive identity around Fred Warner's primary anchor role compresses Winters's structural snap share.

What to watch: Whether Winters crosses into tier 6 (top 50) in 2026 or whether the role compresses back to swing depth.