There has been a lot of speculation that the San Francisco 49ers' selection of BYU linebacker Fred Warner in the third round of the draft was greatly influenced by the status of second-year linebacker Reuben Foster.
While Foster's case took a surprising turn last week, he still faces multiple felony charges despite the alleged victim publicly stating that the charges are based on lies.
Elissa Ennis, his 28-year-old then-live-in girlfriend, had initially told responding sheriff's deputies and Los Gatos police that Foster had dragged her by the hair, physically thrown her out of the house, and punched her repeatedly. Her story changed last week when her attorney released a statement saying Foster had not struck or threatened her and the injuries she sustained were the result of a physical fight with another woman.
Ennis reportedly has video evidence of the altercation, which would be damaging to the prosecutor's case against Foster. In light of this additional evidence, the plea hearing was delayed until May 8.
Given the circumstances, it is easy to understand why the 49ers would seek an insurance policy at linebacker. However, general manager John Lynch joined Joe, Lo and Dibs on 95.7 The Game this morning and explained the 49ers might have selected a linebacker like Warner regardless of the situation surrounding Foster.
He was asked if the Foster situation influenced the selection of Warner.
"I think we knew that we better have an answer there and we've tried to address that throughout free agency," Lynch responded. "Brock Coyle is a player that we worked really hard to bring back because he's just a steady force in there, played really good football for us. We went out and got Korey Toomer from the Chargers. Mark Nzeocha is a guy we re-signed.
"I'm talking about names that not a lot of people know, but we felt like what was really important to address was the depth at that position because it's a premium position, first of all. And then, yes, with Reuben's situation, as that developed, as we went into the draft, honestly, I think a guy (like) Fred Warner probably would have been drafted by us had Reuben not had any situation at all. We wanted to continue to improve at that position, but I think with Reuben's situation, it probably put a little more emphasis on, 'We need to find someone there.'
"We're just pleased. We think Fred Warner is a really good football player, fits what we do extremely well, and so we were excited to grab him, as we were (Dante) Pettis, (Mike) McGlinchey, and all the other guys that we were able to bring in."