Eric Winters, 4-star in-state safety, signs with Auburn

Four-star safety Eric Winters or Enterprise (Ala.) signed with Auburn on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.

SIGNING DAY THREAD – MEMBERS ONLY

The Winters File

Position: Boundary Safety/Dime Backer

Height/Weight: 6-foot-2 / 195 pounds

Key trait: Winters is a certified warrior. He plays both offense and defense on the highest level of Alabama high school football. He has excellent football IQ no matter what position he plays.

On3 Industry Ranking: (93.84) No. 79 overall, No. 8 Safety, No. 4 in Alabama

Commitment date: June 15, 2024

Chose Auburn over: Georgia, Miami, Tennessee

Time of enrollment: January

Notable: Winters was a big win for Auburn on the trail. Georgia made him a priority. The Bulldogs had him on campus just before his commitment, so did Auburn. The Tigers won out despite continuous push from Georgia. Winters never looked back from his Auburn commitment.

Quoteworthy: “They have both coached guys that are like before too. Coach Kelly coached Derwin James and coach Durkin coach Jabril Peppers. They are versatile guys that are bigger safeties and I like how they want to use me. Those guys, coach Freeze and the staff at Auburn all made an impact on me. They made me feel comfortable and I like their plan for me.”

Trait Breakdown

****Trait breakdown and in-person eval written by Auburn Live Analyst Cole Pinkston..

BEST TRAIT: Tracking.. Whether it is tracking down a ball carrier, tracking a quarterback as a blitzer, or tracking the ball in the air, Winters locks in on his target and becomes relentless in his pursuit. He has a lot of speed to work with but also has a elite recognition of what is unfolding with each play.

PASS COVERAGE: Winters is a strong coverage player. He might be more suited to be a zone coverage player who can break and make plays on the ball in the air. However, he can play in man coverage, too. We witnessed this in the 7-on-7 camp. He’s got safety coverage skills with more of a linebacker body.

OPEN-FIELD TACKLING: This goes along with his tracking abilities.. Winters can run down any ball carrier. He breaks down and plays form his hips well. He also has great feet and squares up defenders in the open field with ease. 

PLAYING IN THE BOX: There is not a ton of evidence of Winters playing in the box. In what we have seen, he is somewhat hesitant at times and hops instead of taking confident downhill steps. This comes from playing mostly in space. Can he play in the box and constantly take on blocks while working through traffic? Probably. His skillset is tailor-made to be out in space, though.

BLITZING: Winters is an excellent blitz option. He picks up speed when locking on a target. He also has no problem putting on a pass rush move and shaking free from blocks out on the edge. Winters is a blur as a free blitzer and can really cause problems for the opposition. 

PLAYMAKING ABILITY: Winters is ticking time a bomb–it is only a matter of time before he goes off and makes a big play. He is always liable to create a turnover, cause havoc in the backfield, or come flying in and stopping a play before it gets going. He’s not just an elite athlete, he makes big plays when it counts.

OBSCURE TRAIT: Disruption. Winters finds creative ways to disrupt plays. He has incredible leaping ability and has a knack for timing his jump and knocking the ball down at the line of scrimmage. When in coverage, his hang time when jumping and playing the ball is impressive for having a bigger frame. The ability to disrupt when it is unexpected is one of his calling cards.

In-person eval

— Winters was masterful from a football IQ standpoint as he is every time we see him no matter the setting. The things that Winters did that will not show up on the stat sheet were advanced.

— One of the more advanced skills Winters displayed was collisioning the routes off of the line of scrimmage. He was not playing bump-and-run coverage, but rather out in space collisioning routes. There are players in college who have not figured out this concept. It kept the opposing quarterback from trying intermediate and deep routes on Winters’ side. 

— Winters tackled well for the most part. At times, he did not wrap up and tried to big hit players. When he needed to make an open field tackle, though, he was sure. He had 10+ tackles according to our statkeeping. 

— Most impressively, Winters lined up anywhere he was needed and was good. He lined up at running back and receiver on offense. On defense, he played out in space, in the alley, at linebacker, on the edge, at safety, and stopped plays at the goal line as a roaming backer. 

— His kick return touchdown was the most impressive play. He bobbled the kick, had to gather himself, then made two immediate defenders miss before slipping through a tight space and going the distance. It was also a play that got Enterprise back in the game.. Not to mention, he picked off a 2-point conversion when the game was still close in the second quarter. Winters has a knack for gamechanging plays.