How Fred Warner is helping the 49ers defense’s stellar play without other stars
The 49ers defense is ranked fifth in scoring, fifth in yardage, eighth in yards per play, seventh in third-down conversions, third in opponents’ red-zone scoring and second in touchdowns allowed per game.
So last year’s NFC champions behind Richard Sherman and Nick Bosa must have picked up right where they left off, right?
Of course not. San Francisco’s defense has been decimated by injuries, starting with Sherman’s absence after the first game of the season and Bosa’s season-ending ACL tear a week later.
The 49ers defense started five different combinations of cornerbacks through the first seven games. They recently held the Patriots to six points, while recording four interceptions, without both starting safeties. Linebackers Kwon Alexander and Dre Greenlaw both missed time with injuries. And, of course, the defensive line doesn’t look at all the same as last season without DeForest Buckner in the middle or Bosa and Dee Ford rushing from the edges.
The 49ers defense has remained productive despite all that shuffling. The only constant? Middle linebacker Fred Warner.
Warner holds together 49ers defense
Warner, the emerging third-year pro, is the glue that holds everything together, the quarterback of the defense that makes sure all 11 players are in the right position, the emotional ringleader and smack talker reminding opponents of their inferiority to gain a mental edge.
“He’s just kind of taking over from the start and he’s been such an active player, run and pass, and so available to make plays because he’s such a hard worker and great reader and an instinctive, you can’t watch the defense and not see him,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said on a conference call this week.
“He just jumps out at you.”
Indeed, Warner is having the best season of his career while he carries a depleted defense to a top-five unit, statistically, despite the team’s best players dropping like flies throughout the season. Which is why CBS analyst and former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo wouldn’t stop gushing over Warner during the broadcast of San Francisco’s suffocating performance in New England, calling him, “the best linebacker in ball.”
“All-Pro Fred” is the nickname teammates have bestowed, despite the first-time captain waiting for his first Pro Bowl or All-Pro recognition.
Perhaps Warner didn’t quite make his mark as a rookie on a defense that struggled against the pass in 2018, or he was overshadowed by all the star power that flanked him in 2019. This year, he’s clearly the most valuable member of a defense that would be lost without him given the injuries.
“I’ve always held myself to highest standard,” Warner said on a Zoom news conference Wednesday. “I’m the one in the middle, the one everybody’s looking at every single day, every play, so as long as I’m on point I know that we can continue to get better and better.”
Warner stellar against passing game as Seahawks loom
Warner, according to Pro Football Focus, is the highest-graded linebacker against the pass in the NFL while his 55.9 passer rating when targeted ranks second. He has two interceptions, including one last week of Cam Newton, after having just one pick throughout all of last season. His tackling statistics aren’t quite off the screen as he ranks 14th in the league, while Romo argued Warner does so well positioning himself that offenses avoid him.
“Just from a mental standpoint, he’s the quarterback out there,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “The calls he makes, all the confusing things that people do offensively with the motions and change of strengths and how he gets us lined up. When you play zone defense a lot, you better have some good guys inside who look at the quarterback and I think Fred is as good as anyone.”
This week offers Warner and the 49ers defense a particular tough test. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is in the middle of a historic season as Seattle ranks first in both scoring and yardage. Wilson 22 touchdown passes through six games are the most in league history, tied with Peyton Manning in 2013.
For the 49ers to have any chance at winning in Seattle, and giving their playoff chances a significant boost before next Thursday’s game over the currently top-seeded Green Bay Packers, slowing Wilson is going to be priority No. 1. That starts with Warner.
“You got Russ, who’s obviously had an MVP season thus far, so we’re obviously going to have to eliminate the explosive plays because that’s what their bread and butter has been so far,” Warner said. “And it’s going to be difficult.”
While Warner is one the field, a player he looks up to will be on the other sideline. Bobby Wagner, a five-time first-team All Pro and six-time Pro Bowler for the Seattle, is a player that Warner looked up to dating back to his days at BYU. It just so happens Warner was drafted to play under coordinator Robert Saleh, who used to be a defensive assistant working with linebackers in Seattle, who coached Wagner. Saleh has said Warner was the smartest prospect he’s ever encountered leading up to the draft.
Warner said his interactions with Wagner have mostly been from afar through social media, and he planned on meeting up during the recent offseason if not for the pandemic.
“He was always the guy I watched and tried to take little pieces of his game,” Warner said. “So if you see some of the things I do, it probably looks similar because I’ve watched him for so long. Because he’s been the best for a long time.”
Carroll was asked about the comparison and indicated he thinks Warner might be on a similar track.
“I can’t remember what kind of impression Bobby made on guys this early,” Carroll said. “But Fred’s certainly has and we have a lot of respect for his play.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 7:17 AM.
