Fred Warner celebrating.
When Peter King makes an assertion about a player’s future, fans tend to listen. Since rising to national prominence in 1989 as a writer for Sports Illustrated, King has witnessed his fair share of preseason quarterback competitions, locker room drama and mid-season signal-caller swaps that either changed the fortune of a team or sunk their chances for good.
In the September 5 edition of King’s Football Morning in America column, King discussed the prospects of a mid-season benching of Trey Lance, suggesting that the North Dakota State product could be benched in favor of Jimmy Garoppolo by Week 7, when the San Francisco 49ers host the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of the 2020 Super Bowl.
But why? Simple: King doesn’t believe the Niners’ star players will have patience if Lance’s on-field struggles start to cost the team games.
“How will George Kittle and Fred Warner and Arik Armstead and Deebo Samuel, all good team guys, react privately if Trey Lance struggles the first month of the season?,” King wrote. “Will the Niners’ leadership council go to Kyle Shanahan and say, ‘Come on. We gotta win these games?'”
King’s thought process is understandable; losing a season to inexperience under center isn’t something many Pro Bowl caliber players are willing to weather, especially when they have a Super Bowl center sitting on the bench. Still, King might not be giving the 49ers stars enough credit, as Warner specifically has been lauded for helping young players along their developmental path.
Fred Warner Has Been Supporting a 49ers Draftee
Despite sitting out the 49ers’ preseason opener, Warner kept a close eye on Samuel Womack, San Francisco’s fifth-round pick out of Toledo in 2022.
“He’s been doing a really good job,” Warner told NBC Sports. “Really like Sammy a lot, even before this game. I’ve seen things that he’s been doing in practice and really like what I see. And then for him to come out and get two interceptions, really good outing.”
Despite having strong depth at linebacker already, with Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair expected to start on the outside, All-Pro middle linebacker Warner celebrated the rookie’s tenacity and technique.
“He’s just real scrappy in there,” Warner said. “The way that he covers, he uses his feet really well to cover guys instead of just trying to be too grabby. I think that the length really helps him, being a shorter guy. I love his tenacity, the way he competes. He’s going to be pretty good.”
Big Year From Warner Could Offset Offensive Struggles
Though Warner’s aggressive approach to practice has occasionally drawn the wrong kind of headlines during training camp, as the BYU product did give Marcus Johnson a concussion, his efforts made a massive fan of second-year defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.
“Fred has done an outstanding job,” Ryans told NBC Sports. “And man, I’m fired up to have him another year, and he’s rolling. I think he’s going to have a really good year this year.”
Ryans further lauded Warner’s on-field intensity, his leadership and most importantly his difference-making abilities in the middle of the defense. Even if he occasionally had to tone things down in practice, Ryans was ecstatic to have the All-Pro performer in the middle of his defense, especially since he will soon be tackling players from other teams, instead of fellow members of Niners Nation.
If Warner can recapture his 2020 form, where he recorded 125 tackles, 2 interceptions and a forced fumble, the Niners’ defense should once again be able to overcome any early struggles Kyle Shanahan’s offense may face over the first six weeks of the season.