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BYU Football Countdown: Player 45 – Now a 49er

By Adam Gibby

PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 12: Fred Warner #4 of the Brigham Young Cougars signals to the crowd as he and his team take the field before their game against the Boise State Broncos at LaVell Edwards Stadium on September 12, 2015 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 12: Fred Warner #4 of the Brigham Young Cougars signals to the crowd as he and his team take the field before their game against the Boise State Broncos at LaVell Edwards Stadium on September 12, 2015 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /

No. 45 Fred Warner – Linebacker – 2013-2017

Fred Warner, similar to David Nixon who was just featured, doesn’t have the raw stats or amazing hits that are going to be remembered in 50 years, but the combination of everything makes him a really good player. Warner played at the same time as some really good defensive ends with the Kaufusi brothers as well as linebacker Harvey Langi. Having this combination of players on the team with Warner made him not stick out as much as he may have had he played when the defense struggled a bit more.

Also 2017, Warners senior year, was not the season to be celebrating BYU Football even if he was leading the defense in tackles and forced fumbles. In other words, Warner just wasn’t able to shine as much as he should have because of the situation that he was in.

Rankings

Impact B

When you are a senior captain on a 4-9 team, normally that would mean that the impact is going to be really bad and negative. When you are on that team and doing everything you can do to turn things around, that helps a bit. In 2017, Fred Warner called a players only meeting after the Cougars started their season 1-7, the worst start since… well ever given the circumstances. Although there won’t be movies made about the Cougars turning their season around or blowing out opponents by 50 the rest of the year, the did finish 3-2 which helped set up the more successful 2019 season. The point is, at this point Warner knew he wasn’t going to a bowl game or finish his career with a winning record, but he still loved his team and wanted to impact them in a positive way, and it seemed to work.

Statistics B

Although no particular stat really sticks out for Warner, his overall stats are pretty good. First, he played all four seasons in a big way which is big in this ranking. For his career, he finished with 262 tackles, 6.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, 13 pass breakups, five receptions, seven interceptions and two pick sixes. Again, if looking at a career and seeing 6.5 sacks, that is not great, 13 pass breakups… meh. With everything together though, this is a really statline to have over a four year career.

Memorable Moments B-

Warner, similar to Taysom Hill has a lot of memorable moments that were SOOO close to being great moments. For example, he had two pick sixes against Boise State but the Cougars lost both games. His senior year against Utah he had eight tackles, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a huge hit in the backfield but the Cougars fell in that game as well. Warner was a key part in some really memorable games including the wins over Nebraska and Boise State in 2015, the Toledo shootout and the Bowl Game win against Wyoming.

More than anything though, Warner’s memorable moment will come from the event mentioned above when he called a team meeting, not for his own legacy, but for the future of the program.

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