49ers star cracks PFF50, Pro Football Focus' top players of 2025

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner is the team's first player featured in Pro Football Focus' list of the 50 best players in the NFL.

Pro Football Focus kicked off their list of the 50 best players in the NFL ahead of the 2025 season on Wednesday, with "the NFL's top linebacker," San Francisco 49ers' Fred Warner, earning the No. 24 overall slot. The 49ers' defensive leader is the first player on the team to be featured on PFF's list of the most elite players in the league.

Despite fighting through a broken ankle in 2024, Waner managed to record an impressive 131 tackles, two interceptions, and four forced fumbles. His 89.2 PFF grade ranked second among NFL linebackers—his fifth top-5 finish in as many seasons.

"Given his production in San Francisco, especially over the past five years, Warner has cemented himself as the NFL's top linebacker," PFF's Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema wrote. "He's finished among the top five linebackers in overall grade every year since 2019, including a first-place ranking in 2020 and second-place finishes in each of the last three seasons."

Earlier this week, Warner claimed the top spot among linebackers in ESPN's 2025 survey of coaches, executives and scouts. Warner earned over 80 percent of all first-place votes in the survey.

Warner has earned four First-Team All-Pro selections in five years, including consecutive honors over the past three seasons. Pro Football Focus places him in Tier 1 of linebacker rankings, with combined coverage and run-defense grades over 90 during the past five years.

"Equally dominant against the run and in coverage, Warner has earned 80.0-plus grades in both facets each of the past three years," Wasserman and Skikkema stated.

Earlier this offseason, the 49ers signed Warner to a three-year, $63 million contract extension, making him the NFL's highest-paid off-ball linebacker.