Player Feature: La’Mar Winston Jr.

Feature Spotlight: La’Mar Winston Jr.

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Player Bio

Pos: OLB H: 6’2” W: 223 LB

Hometown: Portland, OR (Central Catholic HS)

Class: Senior

All-American outside linebacker, La’Mar Winston Jr., was highly touted as the No. 1 recruit coming out of the state of Oregon as a senior. Winston showcased elite athleticism being tabbed as the No. 8 overall athlete in his class by Rivals. In high school Winston didn’t just play linebacker. As a junior at Central Catholic high school in Portland, Oregon, Winston excelled on the offensive side of the ball as a wide receiver. Converting to wide receiver his junior season, Winston earned Second Team All-State honors as a wideout by The Oregonian. The outside linebacker turned wide receiver hauled in 22 receptions for 546 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior.

Following the breakout offensive season, Winston converted back to outside linebacker his senior season. As a edge-rusher, he earned Second Team All-State again and PrepStar All-American honors. Winston finished his senior season with 42 tackles, five sacks, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. The No. 17 ranked OLB by 247Sports did it on both sides of the field adding 25 receptions for 462 yards and four touchdowns.

Extremely athletically gifted, Winston received several Pac-12 offers as a four-star OLB prospect before committing to the Oregon Ducks in 2016. The edge-rusher’s natural athleticism made him a near perfect fit for Oregon’s 3-4 defense. He has an innate ability to apply pressure off the edge. Ranking amongst the top Pac-12 pass-rushers on third downs by Pro Football Focus. Winston is set to eclipse 100 career tackles in 2019.

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Career Stats

(2016) GP: 11 - SOLO: 2 - AST: 3 - TOT: 5 - SAC: 0 - INT: 0 - PD: 0 - TD: 0 - FF: 0 - FR: 0

(2017) GP: 13 - SOLO: 27 - AST: 22 - TOT: 49 - SAC: 2.0 - INT: 0 - PD: 3 - TD: 0 - FF: 0 - FR: 1

(2018) GP: 12 - SOLO: 23 - AST: 17 - TOT: 40 - SAC: 2.0 - INT: 0 - PD: 3 - TD: 1 - FF: 1 - FR: 1

(Total) GP: 36 - SOLO: 52 - AST: 42 - TOT: 94 - SAC: 4.0 - INT: 0 - PD: 6 - TD: 1 - FF: 1 - FR: 2

Awards

• U.S. Under-19 National Team (2016)
• U.S. All-American (2015)
• PrepStar All-American (2015)
• Second-Team All-State Honors as OLB (The Oregonian - 2015)
• Second-Team All-State Honors as WR (The Oregonian - 2014)

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John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Best Performance:

Winston’s Redbox Bowl performance tops the list of standout games by the linebacker. Leading Oregon with the highest-graded performance in the Redbox Bowl by PFF, Winston played the best game of his career in arguably his most important one. Defense dominated the game and Winston was right at the top of the list finishing the game with a season-high 10 tackles and 0.5 sacks.

The linebacker was full of big plays including a third-down stand early in the fourth quarter that forced a punt, leading to the winning Ducks touchdown on the ensuing drive.

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Highlights

One of the top athletes coming out of high school, Winston has the size, speed and agility that keeps opposing quarterbacks up at night.

The edge-rusher is used to making clutch plays in big moments. Just another day at the office.