Q&A: 2023 Lutcher QB/ATH D’Wanye’ Winfield

The conversation of Louisiana’s talented 2023 quarterback class tends to start with uber-prospect [player_tooltip player_id="138484" first="Arch" last="Manning"] of Newman. Texas A&amp;M commit [player_tooltip player_id="138485" first="Eli" last="Holstein"], of Zachary, and Purdue commit [player_tooltip player_id="138486" first="Rickie" last="Collins"], of Woodlawn (Baton Rouge), are the next names in most minds. And then matters open into, in some order, Scotlandville’s [player_tooltip player_id="138489" first="Czavian" last="Teasett"], Edna Karr’s A.J. Samuel and Denham Springs’ [player_tooltip player_id="138487" first="Reese" last="Mooney"]. But one name that doesn’t come up often is Lutcher star D’Wanye’ Winfield. And his coach, Dwain Jenkins, is not shy in his stance that that dynamic should change. "He’s a warrior," Jenkins said after the Bulldogs’ recent rout of rival St. James. "Everybody’s been sleeping and talking about all these other guys in that 2023 class. I think you see who’s one of the best ones that hasn’t been talked about. D’Wanye’ Winfield’s a football player. He’s a leader. He’s everything that you want in a kid. And he deserves all the attention that he gets. "Because this isn’t the first time. He’s been on this roll for six or seven games, and now maybe people will start paying him some attention." Winfield ran for more than 250 yards and five touchdowns that night to continue an impressive run dating back to last season’s playoffs. In those two postseason games and the first four games of this season, he rushed 93 times for 1180 yards and 19 touchdowns and completed 45 of 70 passes for another 654 yards and eight scores. Programs such as LSU, Mississippi State, Central Florida and Louisville have started to take notice and recruit him to varying degrees. Some are evaluating him as a dual-threat quarterback, while others lean more towards a more open-ended "athlete" role that could see him as an offensive skill player or defensive back. Here’s some of what Winfield had to say following his and his Bulldogs’ recent 41-19 dismantling of the cross-river Wildcats. &nbsp; <strong>You guys come out and set a physical tone. Take me through some of the game plan and what worked so well to have as much success as you did on the ground.</strong> Before the game, Coach Jenkins told us it’s not all about the rivalry. We know we’ve got a better program, a better team ... so if we play our game, we’re gonna have success at the end. <strong>You end up with five touchdowns. Coach mentioned you’ve been on a little bit of a roll and add a five spot to it tonight. For you, specifically when you got close to the goal line, you were able to sniff things out. You went up over the top and Shazz (Preston) was there, but you had a little extra. How good were you feeling on some of those plays?</strong> I guess it was a little good, but I knew it wasn’t over. So we were just playing like it was 0-0. <strong>Do you feel like people are gonna start to realize what you guys have going?</strong> Oh yeah. It’s gonna wake ’em up. It’s gonna wake a lot of people up and show some people what we’re really about. <strong>That big line in front of y’all, how good is that as a quarterback to be behind them?</strong> That’s perfect. That’s like the best thing to ever happen in high school football right now. <strong>You’re playing DB as well. College-wise is that where most of the schools are starting to talk to you about playing?</strong> Mostly quarterback and athlete. <strong>Since Sept. 1, who have you started to hear from a little bit?</strong> Mississippi State, they’ve been texting me a lot and showing a lot of interest. <strong>They’re looking at you at what? Quarterback? Athlete?</strong> Quarterback. <strong>What have they said about your start to the season and how you might fit up there?</strong> They said I’d fit perfectly. They said they like me a lot. <strong>What other schools have you heard from?</strong> LSU’s been showing interest. Georgia State. <strong>What’s LSU been saying to you?</strong> They like how I was playing. And the offensive coordinator said he wants me to play quarterback. He said I’m not an "athlete."