49ers roster 2021: Fred Warner more important than ever

Why Fred Warner takes a step back with 49ers in 2021

There aren’t many reasons to suspect any would-be Fred Warner regression.

Barring injury or yet another season in which the 49ers deal with injury losses across the board, Warner’s presence is going to be just as key as what the Niners enjoyed with former linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman years ago.

If there’s one spot where fans could worry about Warner regressing a bit, it might come with the new defensive changes under DeMeco Ryans.

Ryans, a first-year coordinator, is likely to have a lot of the growing pains Robert Saleh experienced over his first two years in San Francisco. It’s anyone’s guess what these will be, and it’s another guess whether or not Warner will wind up struggling a bit because of them.

A bigger likelihood, however, is Warner being forced to cover up some of the other mistakes, particularly those made by younger, less-experienced players around him, and sometimes those efforts will take away from his own natural abilities.

Again, this is conjecture. It’ll be impossible to predict what the impact will be of Ryans’ inexperience and scheme changes until games are actually played.

But if Warner goes through any sort of regression, that’s likely to play a role.