San Francisco 49ers' 2023 draft pick primed for opportunity they would dearly love him to grasp

With Dre Greenlaw conceding he does not know when he will return from the Achilles tear he suffered in Super Bowl 58, there is a clear opportunity for one of the lesser known members of the San Francisco 49ers' linebacker group to play significant snaps in 2024.

It had previously been reported that Greenlaw was targeting Week 1 for his return, but he sounded a much less optimistic tone when asked about his recovery by NBC Sports Bay Area last week.

The 49ers signed veteran De'Vondre Campbell in free agency, having seen Eric Kendricks go back on an agreement, and he is the frontrunner to fill the void at WILL linebacker if Greenlaw does miss the start of the season.

However, veteran Campbell is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career with the Green Bay Packers and is only on a one-year contract. Nothing will be promised to the former All-Pro, with several more inexperienced players hoping to state their case for prominent roles this season.

Chief among them is last year's sixth-round pick Dee Winters.

Winters understandably only played sparingly as a rookie, and was primarily limited to special teams.

But new defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen indicated on Friday that the Niners have been impressed by the development of the former TCU defender.

Asked about the linebacker situation with Greenlaw out and specifically the progress made by Winters and last year's seventh-round pick Jalen Graham, Sorensen told a press conference:

"We always want it to be competitive. We’ve got DeVondre Campbell, another really good sign for us. The guy’s been a really good player in the league for a long time. He’s been a Pro Bowler. We’re excited about that, but also with the development of Jalen Graham and Dee, the way that those guys play, again, Jalen played more of, you know, he was a high school quarterback. He was more of like a safety type that played more out of the box. Like Fred Warner did, you kind of move in. So sometimes, you know, with him it’s just making that transition. And then Dee, Dee has come a long way too now. We love his play style, he plays fast, he’s physical and I think both those guys so far what we’ve seen, they just continue to grow and want to see them compete once we get to these next couple weeks and then into training camp.”

Sorensen's comments suggest Winters, having played linebacker his entire college career, is further along than Graham, who was inactive for most of his rookie season.

Though longtime backup Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles has more experience and played defensive snaps in the Super Bowl after Greenlaw was injured, Winters' athletic traits match up perfectly with what the 49ers want from their defensive players. As such, he is excellently placed to either challenge Campbell for WILL linebacker snaps in Greenlaw's absence or establish himself as the frontrunner to start as the SAM linebacker on base downs.

Sorensen summed up the identity of his defense in a very short sentence: "We play violent, we play with speed and we finish."

That fits Winters to a tee. He ran a 4.49 40-yard dash at last year's Combine and he used that speed to finish consistently in college, his 2022 season seeing him record a career-high 79 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks.

His opportunities to show off his speed and finishing ability on defense as a rookie were extremely few, but Greenlaw's seemingly likely absence may create an opportunity for a player who looks to be on the right track.

With Greenlaw a free agent next offseason, when Brock Purdy becomes eligible for a contract extension, the 49ers would surely love for Winters to grasp it with both hands and make a potential parting with Greenlaw much more palatable by proving himself to be a viable potential successor.