Last month, San Francisco 49ers star linebacker Fred Warner boldly declared that second-year linebacker Dee Winters "probably had the best OTAs out of anybody on the team." This high praise is significant, considering the 49ers' roster is stacked with talent on both sides of the ball.
"I feel like he's come along since last year," Warner said. "I remember he came in as a rookie, was struggling to learn the plays, and trying to get in shape, and all those little things that you got to learn as a professional."
San Francisco selected Winters in the sixth round of last year's draft. While he appeared in 15 games, he played only 60 defensive snaps, primarily contributing on special teams. The 49ers believe the young linebacker could be gearing up for a breakout season.
"He made a huge jump," head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters following the 49ers' first training camp practice. "You're always waiting to see the guys who do that in the second year, and I thought he really did in OTAs (organized team activities). I think it was nice for him not having Fred and [Dre Greenlaw] out there, so he gets a lot of reps, and he was ready for those reps."
Greenlaw is recovering from the torn Achilles he suffered in February's Super Bowl loss. He started training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, which should give other linebackers, like Winters, plenty of opportunities to impress the coaching staff.
"When you go through your rookie year, sometimes things click for guys, and I think being behind guys like Dre and Fred, being able to watch how they work, he just kind of cloned himself after those guys," Shanahan continued. "Just the work ethic, being a pro, and just so dialed in and locked into everything. And he was so ready for OTAs. And when you're that ready for OTAs, then you get so much better in OTAs, which should allow him to be a lot better here in training camp."
Rookie safety Malik Mustapha is also making a solid first impression in training camp. He hauled in an impressive interception off a Josh Dobbs pass during today's practice, catching Shanahan's attention.
"That was awesome because I just watched the route, and I thought Danny (Gray) got the corner, so I thought he was gonna win on the go-route, and then the middle-third safety picked it off with ease," Shanahan remarked. "So he showed his range there. I gotta kinda see what the quarterback did. Hopefully, he didn't stare it down. But if he looked him off and he still got there, then it was extremely impressive.
"But it still showed a lot, regardless of what the quarterback did, being able to get there, eat that up, because if he didn't, that was a big play."
The 49ers selected Mustapha out of Wake Forest in the fourth round (pick No. 124) of this year's draft.
