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Fred Warner is the MVP of the 49ers Defense

If he were to continue like this, he will be a Hall of Fame player. He has more sacks this season than Nick Bosa.

Grant Cohn

In this story:

When you think of the MVP of the 49ers defense, you typically think of Nick Bosa. He was the freaking NFL Defensive Player of the Year last season.

This season though, Fred Warner is their MVP. And it's obvious.

Warner is involved in so many plays. You can't see a play and he's not in it. He's either tackling a running back, breaking up passes, intercepting them or punching the ball out. He also calls the plays. If he were to continue like this, he will be a Hall of Fame player. He has more sacks this season than Nick Bosa.

Warner doesn't make as much money as Bosa, and isn't as famous around America as Bosa. Most people believe Bosa plays a more important position because he's an edge rusher and Warner is a middle linebacker, but Warner impacts the game in more ways -- in coverage, against the run and as a pass rusher. And that's why through five games, Warner has made a larger impact than Bosa.

And there's another thing about Warner. In terms of what coaches call "character," Warner is off the charts. He talks like a defensive coordinator. He's a real leader, as opposed to Bosa, who leads by example but mostly acts like an independent contractor. No one takes more ownership of the 49ers than Warner. He might as well be their head coach. He's the voice of the team, the heart of the defense and the coach on the field. He should be the favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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