Pro Football Focus is continuing with its annual NFL position rankings. The earlier ones have seen Trent Williams listed as the league's top offensive tackle. Running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle ranked high within their position groups. Wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, cornerback Charvarius Ward, defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Arik Armstead, quarterback Brock Purdy, and guard Spencer Burford also represented the San Francisco 49ers within each position's top 32.
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A few more 49ers players have popped up within recent lists. Pro Football Focus lists Fred Warner as the top-ranked linebacker. He's a player who consistently earns high grades from the analytics site.
"The 2022 campaign marked the third season in which Warner recorded an 80.0-plus overall grade, solidifying his case as the top player at his position," wrote Trevor Sikkema.
While Warner is categorized as a Tier 1 linebacker, Pro Football Focus lists his teammate, Dre Greenlaw, as a Tier 2 linebacker. Greenlaw came in at No. 8 within the linebacker ranking.
"Greenlaw went from a 62.9 coverage grade in 2021 to an 82.7 coverage grade in 2022," wrote Sikkema, who describes Greenlaw as one of the "more athletically gifted linebackers in the league."
What about Nick Bosa, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year? Last season's sack leader came in at No. 3 among edge rushers, behind Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys.
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"Bosa won the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022, as he led the league in pressures (90), finished third in pass rush win percentage (21%), and was stout versus the run (82.6 run defense grade while missing zero tackles as a run defender)," wrote Sikkema.
Garrett earned the top spot among edge rushers thanks to his consistent play. Sikkema notes that 2022 was the Browns defender's fifth straight season earning an 89.5-plus overall grade with double-digit sacks.
Sikkema adds, "Parsons finished top five in both pass rush grade (92.2) and win rate (19.6%) over the last two years and is No. 1 in the league in our pass rush productivity metric."
Jake Brendel found his way onto Pro Football Focus' ranking of centers. He came in at No. 23.
"Brendel entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of UCLA in 2016 and didn't see more than 200 snaps until last year when he emerged as the starter in the middle of the 49ers offensive line," wrote Gordon McGuinness. "He was solid as a run blocker but stood out in pass protection, where his 71.8 PFF grade ranked seventh at the position."
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