Niner Noise
FanSided

San Francisco 49ers: Grading the 2018 NFL Draft class halfway through the season

By Peter Panacy

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces a draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces a draft pick by the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 10
Next
GLENDALE, AZ – OCTOBER 28: Linebacker Fred Warner #48 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts during the NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 18-15. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ – OCTOBER 28: Linebacker Fred Warner #48 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts during the NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on October 28, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the 49ers 18-15. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

ILB. BYU. FRED WARNER. B-.

On one hand, linebacker Fred Warner is looking to be one half of a very promising pairing for San Francisco’s second level of the defense. He’s flashed the same kind of coverage skills that made him a star at BYU. And in today’s pass-happy NFL, coverage backers are an absolute must have.

And paired with second-year pro Reuben Foster, one can imagine just how dynamic this tandem could be when it fully develops.

The problem, though, is it hasn’t fully developed. Not yet, at least.

Missed tackles have been an issue for all of the 49ers defense. But Warner and Foster have been the primary culprits in 2018. Despite leading the team in tackles (72), Warner has missed 10 tackles on the year, according to Pro Football Focus, which is only behind Foster’s 12 misses.

On the positive side, though, a full year at the pro level should help rectify these issues. And it’s important to note the majority of those missed tackles occurred earlier in the season.

So we should continue to expect Warner’s stock to rise over the second half of 2018.