"Warner was asked if he could name the three off-ball linebackers who have won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year Award. Before the question is even fully asked, Warner rattled off the names: Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher and Luke Kuechly. At the time, Warner had a small fracture in his ankle but was still playing near his usual, All Pro level. Warner believed he was playing the best football of his career in a season where nothing went right for the 49ers."
"and his name was once again being thrown into DPOY conversations. Warner was also adamant that he could improve. "It's just the continual progression of my game where I'm not resting on anything I've done," Warner told ESPN. "It would be so easy, four All Pros in, to just say 'I'm good' and keep doing the same things but it's about finding ways to get better.""
Late in the 2024 season, Fred Warner was positioned among the game's top off-ball linebackers, quickly naming Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher and Luke Kuechly when asked about DPOY winners. He played through a small ankle fracture while performing at an All-Pro level and believed he was playing the best football of his career despite a difficult season for San Francisco. In 2025 Warner started even stronger, prompting renewed DPOY conversations and emphasizing continual progression and improvement. In the first quarter of a loss to Tampa Bay, Warner dislocated and broke his right ankle, a season-ending injury that immediately halted his individual and team goals.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]