If one were to say that a San Francisco 49ers linebacker was dominating training camp, the natural assumption is that the conversation revolves around Fred Warner, who's earned both a Pro Bowl selection and a First-Team All-Pro nod in four of the last five years.
Warner, as he always does, will undoubtedly show out as the weeks progress because that's just what he does.
But during the Niners' first official practice on Wednesday, it was Dee Winters who stole the show, making plays all over the field and even recording a pick-six on Brock Purdy:
LB Dee Winters with a pick 6 on Brock Purdy today. Winters was a “my guy” back in his draft so I’m hoping to see him step in and ball this season. #49ers #FTTB pic.twitter.com/7MhV4ERbRm
— 49er_Edits (@49er_edits) July 24, 2025
With Winters quickly becoming the talk of Day 1, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan was naturally asked his thoughts on the 2023 sixth-round selection afterward. And while he couldn't help but mention the loss of Dre Greenlaw, he says Winters has a great opportunity to take a significant step forward in 2025.
"Well, I just think he has his best opportunity right now," Shanahan said. “He had a decent one last year, but we were always hoping that Dre could come back. Dee did make a ton of progress last year, and he started to take over that job, and he had a number of setbacks with injuries.
“So, it took him a while to do it. I thought he had a hell of an OTAs, showed that he was capable of doing this, and we just want to see him continually get better at it, be consistent. Hopefully, he has good luck of avoiding any injuries. But Dee's a guy we believe can be a hell of a player.
“We're just hoping he gets there."
Greenlaw, of course, signed a three-year deal with the Denver Broncos after the Niners opted not to bring him back after he missed all but two games of the 2024 season after tearing his Achilles in San Francisco's Super Bowl 58 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Winters certainly stepped up in his absence. After making zero starts and recording just 10 total tackles and one pass defended as a rookie, the TCU alum made 10 starts a season ago, tallying 44 total tackles and four passes defended.
While his 66.4 overall PFF grade ranked just 80th of 189 eligible linebackers, his 80.0 coverage grade ranked sixth. There's still plenty of work to be done in other areas, but Robert Saleh returning as defensive coordinator will undoubtedly help, as linebackers are his specialty.
And having a guy like Warner to learn from certainly doesn't hurt either.
Winters, of course, will need more than just one great practice to keep himself in the good graces of the coaching staff, but he's off to a great start.