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The 49ers' Linebacker Unit Ranks 7th in the NFL per Pro Football Focus

The 49ers' linebacker unit is in flux.
Grant Cohn|
Jun 11, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) works out during a team OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
Jun 11, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) works out during a team OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers' linebacker unit is in flux.

They lost Dre Greenlaw this offseason because he signed a three-year deal with the Denver Broncos. The 49ers tried to beat Denver's offer at the last minute, but apparently they didn't offer enough, so Greenlaw stuck with the Broncos. Which is strange considering the 49ers' currently have more than $46 million in salary cap space.

Still, the 49ers have Fred Warner, arguably the best linebacker in the NFL. And they just gave him a three-year extension. In addition, they drafted linebacker Nick Martin in Round 3 -- the same round in which they drafted Warner in 2018.

As a result, Pro Football Focus ranks the 49ers' linebacker unit seventh out of 32 teams entering the 2025 season.

"Just having Fred Warner as the centerpiece of a linebacker unit merits a high spot in these rankings," writes PFF's Dalton Wasserman. "His 89.2 PFF overall grade in 2024 ranked second in the NFL, behind Philadelphia's Zack Baun. Warner’s 92.3 PFF overall grade over the past five seasons leads the NFL, and he is quickly building a Hall of Fame case as each season passes by.

"The 49ers need to figure out what they have at the position beyond Warner. Dee Winters earned a solid 80.0 PFF coverage grade in limited work last season and could be the favorite to start alongside the star. Tatum Bethune and third-round rookie Nick Martin could also compete for the starting role. This competition is likely to be one of the 49ers’ most intriguing camp battles."

Winters had some good moments last season, but he seems easily fooled by play action and misdirection. He's a big reason the 49ers run defense struggled so much. If he had played well, the 49ers probably wouldn't have spent a third-round pick on Nick Martin, but they did.

That's why Martin most likely is the favorite to start. He was hand-picked by defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, and Winters wasn't. In addition, Trent Williams recently said that Martin will be a great player.

I have a feeling Warner and Martin will be an exciting pair to watch for the next few seasons.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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