49ers’ Dee Winters takes his shot at replacing Greenlaw as 49ers’ weakside LB

SANTA CLARA Too much has been made of the ers offseason losses which were a necessary attrition for a - band Financial considerations played a role but not nearly as much as performance If there is a gaping hole that requirements to be filled in the ers soul it was the departure of linebacker Dre Greenlaw Dre Greenlaw in my opinion is one of one one of the best players I ve ever played with tight end George Kittle noted Especially when he s on the field It s a challenge for us to find guys that we at present have to step up and bring that capacity and bring that juice Greenlaw operated to a degree in the shadow of teammate Fred Warner a consensus All-Pro and now he s in Denver Coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch even made a last-ditch attempt to bring Greenlaw back before he signed a three-year contract with Denver worth a maximum of million He was the only exiting free agent who got that kind of attention from the ers because that s how highly regarded Greenlaw is personally and professionally It was all on display for snaps in electric minutes against the Los Angeles Rams last Dec Greenlaw didn t play the second half or the rest of the season but he made his point It was conceivable Greenlaw could still be the force he was in previous years even after rehabbing a torn Achilles a freak injury in the ers overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas Now he s gone and Greenlaw will be missed in a way others will not based on his explosive and inspirational play That s where Dee Winters comes in While it s true that replacing the second letter of his first name with an r would make it Dre Winters noted he s not trying to replicate Greenlaw even as he attempts to become the weakside starter and Warner s new sidekick I think it s more key that I play as who I am and that s Dee Winters Winters declared Thursday after the ers wrapped up Day of their training camp Just go out and do my job Play my style of football Which not coincidentally is similar to Greenlaw in that Winters is -foot- pounds and has the speed and agility to roam sideline to sideline as a playmaker He put that skill to use on Day when he stepped in front of a Brock Purdy pass for an interception Another addition is rookie Nick Martin who is - and was openly compared by ers coaches and scouts to Greenlaw as a rookie out of Oklahoma State Vitality and performance will determine which participant assumes the Greenlaw role although both could play in three-linebacker alignments Winters insists he s not trying to be Greenlaw but paid close attention during his first two seasons Man he was a great example of how to play the will weakside linebacker Winters noted Downhill fast and can cover He can do it all and that s something I need to keep in my meeting moving forward So far so good I ve seen a guy who s ready to take that next step Warner declared Dee has flashed in a big way through his first two seasons And I think year three is that year where it s like Man I know the system I know what I need to do in the offseason and now it s time for me to take control and really put it on tape Linebacker Dee Winters fields questions from the media Thursday following the ers' second training camp practice Doug Duran Bay Area News Group After playing just snaps as a rookie Winters was a candidate to fill in for Greenlaw last season while he rehabbed his Achilles He was derailed by ankle and neck injuries and a concussion which led to the regrettable ascension of free agent De Vondre Campbell Campbell was stiff immobile and a poor fit from the start He wound up quitting on the group on the night Greenlaw made more plays in a half than Campbell had all season Winters ended up playing snaps with mixed results As far as Shanahan is concerned there s no time like the present for Winters to come into his own Well I just think he has his best opportunity right now Shanahan explained He had a decent one last year but we were constantly hoping that Dre could come back Dee did make a ton of progress last year and he started to take over that job and he had a number of setbacks with injuries Related Articles ers Trent Williams still loving football but keeping eye out for cliff Inman Instant analysis as Purdy excels in ers camp s second practice ers special teams receive added scrutiny after wholesale changes New-look D-line Jennings debut well on ers opening day of camp There s no debate the ers belong to Brock Purdy as camp opens So it took him a while to do it I thought he had a hell of an OTAs demonstrated that he was capable of doing this and we just want to see him continually get better at it be consistent Hopefully he has good luck of avoiding any injuries But Dee s a guy we believe can be a hell of a player We re just hoping he gets there Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has been encouraged by Winters offseason as well as his early play in camp Young guys like Dee their progress can be stunted when they re sitting on the bench just watching Saleh stated There s nothing like doing And he had an opportunity the last half of last year to get chosen reps in Knock on wood hopefully he can stay healthy and absorb every one of those reps and learn all the nuance required to play linebacker If he does he s going to be fun to watch