Why LB Dee Winters is the 49ers Player to Keep an eye on

Fred Warner has been extremely impressed with what he has seen from Dee Winters in the last month, which is more than enough reason to keep an eye on him when the 49ers start training camp.

Aug 25, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dee Winters (53) during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

The linebacker position has always been one of the main strengths on the San Francisco 49ers in the last five years.

However, Dre Greenlaw is working to recover from his torn Achilles, so he will most likely miss a sizable amount of time in the regular season. The 49ers signed former Green Bay Packers linebacker De'Vondre Campbell as a holdover, but he isn't the most sound player there.

Regardless, the 49ers need help from their younger linebackers. Someone needs to step up and seize this opportunity ahead of them because the 49ers do like to run base defense with three linebackers in spurts. Well, it looks like the 49ers might have one on their hands.

Linebacker Dee Winters is the player who is so far answering the call and is the 49ers player to keep an eye on when the 49ers open training camp. That is because of the stamp approval that captain Fred Warner gave of him on Wednesday.

"I think Dee has probably had the best OTA out of anybody on the team," said Warner. "I feel like he's come along since last year. I remember he came in as a rookie, was struggling to learn the plays, trying to get in shape and all of those little things that you got to learn as a professional and just coming in this year he's been on it. He's making plays left and right. He came in great shape this OTA, so he's set himself up to have a great training camp. You know he's gonna train hard this summer and have a chance."

If Warner is extremely impressed and heaping high praise to a young linebacker, then that player automatically gets put at or near the top of intriguing players to watch. Winters was drafted in the sixth-round in the 2023 NFL Draft. He was nothing more than a depth and special teams player last season.

So, for this to happen to him, he's already facing the best case scenario. If Warner is feeling this way about Winters, then certainly the coaches are similar. Let's see if he can capitalize on this when training camp and the preseason rolls around.