Leading up to Fall Camp at the end of the month, here at Lawless Republic we will be giving you a daily glimpse at the signees and return missionaries that will be part of the 2014 BYU Football team.
Fred Warner
Mission Hills High School | San Marcos, CA
6’3” | 210 lbs | 4.80 | OLB
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Before BYU: The highest rated recruit in BYU’s 2014 class, Fred Warner enters Provo as the only 4-star recruit by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN. He is also ranked as the No. 15 outside linebacker recruit in the nation according to Rivals.com.
Warner had a standout career while prepping at Mission Hills High School, being recognized as the Avocado East League Defensive Player of the Year and the All-San Diego Section Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named to the All-California First Team by USA Today and earned First Team All-State honors by Cal-Hi Sports. During his senior year, Warner helped lead his team to a 12-2 record, a San Diego Section Open Division title, and a Max Preps So Cal No. 9 ranking. In only 10 regular season games, Warner put up big defensive numbers, including 13 sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery, one defensive touchdown, and blocked 3 punts and 1 kick on special teams.
Warner was recruited by Kelly Poppinga at BYU, in addition to several other schools such as Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, California, Nebraska, New Mexico State, USC, Utah, Washington, and Washington State. He committed to BYU back in April of 2013 and ultimately signed with the Cougars on Signing Day of this year.
Warner’s highlights show off his athleticism and ability to range from sideline to sideline to make tackles and put pressure on the quarterback. His size and power give him an advantage to overwhelm blockers, and his field smarts allows him to be in the right place at the right time. His style is very similar to Kyle Van Noy, in that he is an all-around linebacker causing fumbles, interceptions, blocking kicks, and even scoring defensive touchdowns. Despite his speed and power, Warner needs to work on his quickness and agility when facing shifty ball-carriers.
Expectations in 2014: 2nd String Weak Side Linebacker
Even with the loss of Kyle Van Noy, BYU is stacked with depth at the linebacker position in 2014. If Bronco Mendenhall maintains a four linebacker rotation in the 3-4 formation, we expect to see Fred Warner seeing reps behind Bronson Kaufusi at the weak-side linebacker position. In due time, Warner will see more and more action on the field as he becomes more familiar with Mendenhall’s scheme.
Potential in BYU Career: Moderately High
Warner has great potential to be added to the list of storied linebackers that have passed through BYU and Bronco’s “Linebacker Factory”. He already comes to BYU with great size and athleticism, and it can only improve from here. If he can enhance his agility and quickness, he will be compared by many to Kyle Van Noy. We see Fred Warner having a solid career at BYU and moving into a starting position by as early as next year, depending on a possible mission or redshirt.