One day after Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy gave glowing comments about Fred Warner, Robert Saleh took it up a notch.
“I will be biased and say that he is by far, by far the best middle linebacker in football,” the 49ers defensive coordinator said Thursday. “It's not even close in my opinion. With what he does and what we ask him to do and his energy, his positive energy, his leadership, his off-the-field stuff, you can't make them like that, not very often anyway.”
Warner has always had fans amongst the 49ers coaching staff, players and fans, but the praise from outside the building has increased as the linebacker finishes out his third NFL season. The BYU product has yet to be named to a Pro Bowl but that is likely to change very soon.
The linebacker himself explained the challenge of transitioning to play middle linebacker in the NFL as opposed to what his role was in his college career. Warner still feels he has much more to prove, playing in the box as opposed to his hybrid safety role at BYU.
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“What he's transformed into over the last three years is remarkable,” Saleh said. “In college, he basically played nickel. He comes here as a rookie and we put him behind the ball at MIKE linebacker to make all the checks. So, he's seeing things for the first time in a long time with regards to football, behind the ball, all the reads are different."
Saleh went on to explain that Warner didn’t get as much credit in 2019 with the 49ers’ flashy front four getting the lion’s share of the attention. While the spotlight was on reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa, Warner was leading the team in tackles, which he has done for three consecutive seasons.
While Warner’s responsibilities on the field have always been to make the defensive calls, Saleh attempted to take a little off his plate in his sophomore season. The goal was to allow Warner to play faster, which he did.
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Now in his third season, Warner has increased his scope, being used from blitzes to coverage and he has excelled in all of it.
“The things that he did and the way he gets us lined up, it's Peyton Manning-like in what they did for, from an offensive perspective, just as a comparative measure,” Saleh said. “Now this year, now that he’s got a third year behind the ball, he's only getting more and more comfortable behind the ball.
“He's seeing more and more concepts, formations, being put in different situations. And again, he's only going to get better.”
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December 18, 2020 at 08:15AM
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Why Saleh believes 49ers' Warner is NFL's best middle LB - NBC Sports Bay Area
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