SANTA CLARA — Drafting a player with the idea of switching his position, where you’re tasked with captaining the defense is a high compliment. That applies to Fred Warner, the precocious, athletically gifted linebacker whom the 49ers selected with the No. 70 overall pick in April’s draft.
At BYU, Warner played in an outside linebacker role that Kyle Shanahan likens to K’Waun Williams’ nickelback position in the 49ers defense. Warner lined up in space and covered receivers all over the field. He ran a 4.46 40-yard-dash and jumped a 38.5-inch vertical at the NFL Combine, placing him in the upper echelon of rookie linebackers.
Yet whenever 49ers coaches are asked to evaluate Warner, they first praise his intelligence. After all, they have slotted Warner at the middle linebacker, or MIKE, role, where he relays calls, aligns his teammates properly, and commands the unit — tasks completely foreign to the 21-year-old.
“He’s been very impressive out there,” Shanahan said after a mini-camp session in May. “He’s very smart and he plays like it on the field. He doesn’t hesitate.”
One month later, similar praise.
“Fred was very detailed and didn’t bust, instinctive,” Shanahan said in June. “He’s very smart. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice.”
Warner has embraced his newfound role. Everywhere he goes, he carries his iPad with him so he can study the playbook, whether at the team hotel, during meals, or using the Normatec machine. He says he’s a visual learner. That’s why team walk-throughs have accelerated his learning curve.
Warner eagerly awaited Saturday’s training camp practice, the first involving pads, to practice his new position in a more game-like setting. He wants to prove he’s as physical as he is speedy, the common trait found in every scouting report.
He wasted no time Saturday. Early in an 11-on-11 drill, Warner shot through a gap and crunched running back Jeff Wilson in what was the biggest hit of the practice. Fast forward to Sunday, and he jumped running back Matt Breida’s route for an interception, a play more indicative of his draft profile.
Warner has been one of San Francisco’s most impressive players throughout the opening four days. For someone who retains and learns quickly, it should not be surprising Warner is progressively improving. He said he missed a couple assignments Thursday before correcting them Friday.
“It gets easier and easier every day I am out there,” Warner told KNBR after Sunday’s practice. “The more you are out there, you are confident in what you are doing, you know your plays, and you are out there making plays, and they see that on film— that’s how you earn their respect.”
Warner speaks with a quiet confidence. He says his lifelong goal of reaching the NFL became inevitable when he realized he was more athletically gifted than the competition at BYU. He doesn’t fret about a position change because he knows he can play the game at a high level, regardless of the role.
But he’s also humble, realizing he’s just a rookie four days into camp. He entered offseason workouts and mini-camp with the simple goal of impressing his teammates and coaches with his tireless work ethic.
He currently sits behind Malcolm Smith and Brock Coyle at the MIKE spot. Coyle has taken the first-team reps as Smith nurses a minor lower-leg injury. Warner has been one of the standout players with the second-team.
“He’s extremely smart,” 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Sunday. “He’s got full command of the huddle. He makes his mistakes here and there. It was great to see him get pads on. Shows great physicality, so that’s very exciting. It’s the same thing. The next step for him is to show the consistency that we’re looking for with regards to scheme and recognizing things before they happen. He’s progressing very well.”
Back when Warner was drafted, he set a goal to be the 2018 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. His current focus has shifted to earning a starting spot on special teams. Many great linebackers, Warner says, got their start on special teams before they earned their reputation on defense.
Before he can do any of that, he says, his focus lies in learning the playbook. The biggest adjustment from college to pro has been grasping new concepts and verbiage. He’s smart enough to realize he will likely not digest all the nuances by the first preseason game on August 9th, but he says it’s coming along.
“I am not worried about, ‘Hey I need to be a starter,’” Warner said. “I am worried about, I need to control what I can control, and that’s being the best me. If I am doing that, and I am playing better than whoever is in front of me, it’s an easy pick.”
Shanahan said Saleh watches film of prospective linebackers with the hope of finding the next Bobby Wagner. Saleh formerly worked with Wagner in Seattle. The three-time first-team All-Pro has become the prototype for the modern-day NFL linebacker who covers like a defensive back. Sure enough, when asked whom he models his game after, Warner identified Wagner and Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly.
Before he gets to that level, though, he has to get through his first training camp.