With multiple Pro Bowlers and a NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in front of him and a perennial All-Pro behind him, Fred Warner sometimes got overlooked in the middle of San Francisco powerful defense last season during its rise in becoming one of the NFL’s most fearsome units.
Not anymore.
Not by anybody.
“It starts with me on defense,” Warner said in October.
That has been an undeniable development this year during Warner’s third NFL season. As one of the greatest defensive units in 49ers history cracked and sometimes crumbled around him, Warner’s star continued to rise as he became the driving force in keeping that defense among the league’s most formidable units through October despite a series of key injuries to some of its best players.
Warner has been a true warrior through it all, refusing to let the 49ers slip despite the offseason departure of All-Pro defensive lineman DeForest Buckner, the season-ending injuries to stars such as defensive end Nick Bosa and extensive absences due to injury to stars such as Pro Bowl edge rusher Dee Ford and All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman.
He’s the go-to leader on this defense now, and Warner’s willpower to both succeed and improve has been one of San Francisco’s top highlights as the defending NFC champions struggled to recover from their injuries and keep up with the standard being produced by the tenacious, tone-setting Warner.
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EIGHT IS ENOUGH
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THE BACK LIST
STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS
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Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.
THE WONDER OF WARNER
49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL
Making the right choice at QB
In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
