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Fred Warner is the Only 49ers Player in PFF's Top 50 So Far

Oh, how the 49ers have fallen.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Oh, how the 49ers have fallen.

Just a couple years ago, they had arguably the most talented roster in the NFL. It was so good, people were saying it might be the best roster in 49ers franchise history. That was before they lost the Super Bowl, of course.

Now, they're coming off a 6-11 season and an offseason in which nine starting players left for other teams. And the replacements mostly are rookies. Which means the rest of the 49ers' roster now is old and top-heavy.

That's why Fred Warner so far is the only 49ers player who ranks in Pro Football Focus' top 50 NFL players heading into the 2025 season. He comes in at No. 24. Keep in mind, players 1 through 20 will be released at a later date.

"Given his production in San Francisco, especially over the past five years, Warner has cemented himself as the NFL’s top linebacker," writes PFF. "He’s finished among the top five linebackers in overall grade every year since 2019, including a first-place ranking in 2020 and second-place finishes in each of the last three seasons. Equally dominant against the run and in coverage, Warner has earned 80.0-plus grades in both facets each of the past three years."

It's intersting that George Kittle didn't make the list, but neither did any other tight ends. What's most notable is that Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams and Nick Bosa all were snubbed. Two years ago, those were the 49ers' three best players. Now, they're all declining. Of course, it's possible some of them will be ranked in the top 20. We'll find out soon.

Perhaps a revamped defensive line will help Bosa, and maybe better health will allow McCaffrey to have a bounce-back season, but Williams is 37.

The 49ers need to find some heir apparents for these players.

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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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