San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch had to cut short his praise for Fred Warner during a Friday morning interview on Bay Area radio station KNBR. If he hadn't, he joked, he could have spent the entire 20-minute conversation talking about the star linebacker.
Warner has been playing at an extraordinary level this season. He is Pro Football Focus' highest-graded defensive player, boasting a 95.8 defensive grade through two weeks. Warner has accumulated 12 tackles, including one for a loss, an interception, two passes defended, a sack, and three forced fumbles so far this season. He appears well on his way to another All-Pro campaign.
"Fred's outstanding," Lynch said. "He's such a model for everybody in our organization—I think for anyone. If you want to watch someone work with intent each and every day, with extremely exceptional attitude and effort and consistency, his consistency of work, [watch Warner]."
On Wednesday, defensive end Nick Bosa also praised Warner, highlighting how his teammate's elite level of play motivates the entire defense to raise their game.
"It kind of just makes us want to do better ourselves because you know if you do your job and get it turned back or whatever the situation is, he's going to be there," Bosa said. "So it's definitely motivation. If we could all play closer to how he's playing, then we'll be just all right."
Lynch recalled recently reviewing Warner's college film at BYU while working on next year's incoming rookie linebacker class. Even with Warner's impressive college performance, Lynch admits that he and his scouts didn't foresee the dominant NFL player he would become.
"But when you have a special amount of ability, aptitude, and then you're willing to put in the work, and not just match other people's intensity and consistency in their work, but in your preparation, outwork your competition on a consistent basis, this is what can happen," Lynch shared. "In year seven, you're getting better. And he kept us in that game, quite frankly, last week and gave us an opportunity, made it a one-score game. He was all over."
Warner finished the game against the Vikings with nine tackles, a sack, an interception, two passes defended, and two forced fumbles. According to Pro Football Focus, he didn't miss a tackle the entire game.
Lynch emphasized that Warner's intensity is visible not only on game days but also on the practice field.
"I'm talking on and on because I can go on and on about that guy because he's a remarkable football player, and thank God we have him," Lynch concluded.
You can listen to the entire Lynch interview below.
