Bengals proudly select from BYU OLB Fred Warner
FRED WARNER | BYU 6033 | 236 lbs. | SR. San Marcos, Calif. (Mission Hills) 11/19/1996 (age 21.4) #4
BACKGROUND: A four-star linebacker recruit out of high school, Federico “Fred” Warner was a linebacker and tight end at Mission Hills in Southern California, earning All-San Diego Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2013. He was considered a top-25 recruit in the state of California and considered offers from USC, Arizona State and California, but he verballed to BYU as a junior and stuck to his pledge on signing day – his younger brother (Troy) committed to the Cougars two years later as a defensive back. Warner saw the field immediately as a true freshman and helped fill the void left by Kyle Van Noy, finishing the 2014 season with 24 tackles and one interception. He became a full-time starter as a sophomore and recorded 67 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, three passes defended and two interceptions. Warner started all 13 games as a junior and led the Cougars in tackles (86), posting a career-best nine passes defended, three interceptions and two forced fumbles. He again started all 13 games as a senior and led the team with 87 tackles, adding six passes defended and one interception. Warner accepted his invitation to the 2018 Senior Bowl.
YEAR (GP/GS) TKLS TFL SACK FF PD INT
2014: (10/4) 24 1.0 0.0 0 2 1 (SLB)
2015: (13/12) 67 11.5 4.0 0 3 2 (SLB)
2016: (13/13) 86 10.5 1.5 2 9 3 (SLB)
2017: (13/13) 87 9.0 1.0 1 6 1 (SLB)
Total: (49/42) 264 32.0 6.5 3 20 7
HT WT ARM HAND WING 40-YD 20-YD 10-YD VJ BJ SS 3C BP
COMBINE 6033 236 32 09 3/4 77 4.64 2.65 1.55 38 1/2 09’11” 4.28 6.90 21
PRO DAY N/A (positional drills only)
STRENGTHS: Balanced athlete…smooth ease of movement and lateral range…unlocks his hips and accelerates to chase from anywhere on the field…graceful zone dropper to handle space and undercut passing lanes…excellent ball awareness and read/react quickness…decisive vs. the run, leveraging blocks and using his speed…strong slap and grapple techniques to control/shed blocks…vision to see through blockers…NFL frame and length…brings juice as an edge blitzer…quickly finds his balance to break down and secure tackles in the open field…football tough…proven ball skills and comfortable handling the football, averaging 19.1 yards per interception return with two touchdowns (7/134/2) in his BYU career…mature, team-oriented mentality and named a senior captain…didn’t miss a game the last three seasons, finishing his career with 42 starts…led the defense in snaps the last two years and played on special teams coverages.
WEAKNESSES: Can be swallowed up by offensive linemen who reach his chest…room to add bulk to his frame and improve his play strength…high pad level makes him late scraping to the hole at times…eyes can get locked on the backfield, not gaining enough depth in coverage…tackle fundamentals lapse at times, leading to mistakes…habit of hitting high…not a traditional thumper…uncreative blitzer and doesn’t do enough to hide his intentions.
SUMMARY: A four-year starter at BYU, Warner was a true every-down player at BYU, serving as the SAM linebacker or nickel defender often on the hash vs. slot receivers – also played on special teams coverages. With his functional athleticism and versatility, he is at his best in space with the play speed and controlled burst to quickly react, trusting his instincts vs. the pass and the run. He displays various disengage techniques to aggressively work off blocks, but needs to get stronger to better compete with NFL blockers. Overall, Warner is a dependable tackler with the cover athleticism, toughness and intuition to stay on the field for all three downs as a match-up weapon – the type of linebacker all 32 teams could use.
132.3 SPARQ RATING