Against all odds—and by that, we obviously mean the ridiculous amount of injuries they've been forced to fight through—the San Francisco 49ers are off to a surprising 4-1 start to the 2025 campaign, their lone loss coming in Week 4 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And with three of those victories coming against the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals, and Los Angeles Rams, the Niners are obviously in a nice position in the NFC West if tiebreakers come into play down the stretch.
While the San Francisco offense is putting up a lot of yards, averaging the fifth-most in the NFL at 375.8 per game, it ranks only 22nd in scoring with 21.2 points per contest, thus putting a little more pressure on the defense.
But even without some key contributors, coordinator Robert Saleh's unit has been up to the challenge, holding opposing offenses to 19.6 points per game, the seventh-fewest in the league.
Third-year linebacker Dee Winters, who's become a bit of a fan favorite, has undoubtedly played a big role for the 49ers' defense thus far, ranking third on the team in tackles (35), second in stops behind the line of scrimmage (three), and third in pass breakups (two). Of every San Francisco defender to log at least 100 defensive snaps, the TCU alum's overall PFF grade of 62.9 ranks fourth, trailing only Fred Warner (93.0), the injured Nick Bosa (86.3), and Bryce Huff (83.5).
So, Winters has been solid.
That said, however, it's impossible to ignore the regression we've seen from Winters as the season has progressed in pass coverage. He's been strong against the run, but there's simply no getting around the fact that teams are now starting to target him in the passing game.
Dee Winters' regression in pass coverage can't be ignored
Throught the first five weeks of the season, the soon-to-be 25-year-old (his birthday is Oct. 17) has allowed 29 receptions and three touchdowns, both of which are team highs. Furthermore, he's allowing a passer rating of 116.3 when targeted.
The 49ers' Week 5 overtime win against the Rams was his worst game yet in this regard, as the 11 balls thrown in his direction resulted in nine completions for 83 yards and two scores, thus giving quarterback Matthew Stafford a 137.7 passer rating on those throws and earning Winters a dreadful 28.4 pass-coverage grade.
And that's obviously not something Saleh and head coach Kyle Shanahan want to see, especially when San Francisco is set to match up this Sunday with NFL MVP candidate Baker Mayfield (yes, that's a thing) and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense that ranks sixth in the league in passing with 243.4 yards per game.
Mayfield, who does the vast majority of his damage with mid-range throws and has no problem going to the middle of the field, will obviously want to stay away from Warner, who currently owns a 91.3 coverage grade for the season, which ranks second in the NFL, thus leaving Winters to pick on.
Now, there's no need to completely bench Winters. But perhaps it's time to give rookie Nick Martin a shot, even if only on obvious passing downs.
There's no guarantee that Martin will be any better, but something has to change in a hurry. Every single San Francisco victory thus far has come by five points or less, so a touchdown here or there could have easily turned those wins into losses.