The San Francisco 49ers received yet another gut punch after losing star linebacker Fred Warner likely for the rest of the season after a gruesome ankle injury on Sunday. It is yet another injury in a season already full of them for San Francisco.
In thinking about how the Niners will go about trying to replace Warner, the name that naturally first comes to mind is rookie Nick Martin. The third-round pick out of Oklahoma State seemed like he was essentially having a redshirt season as he was not active for any of the team's first six games.
While it would make sense for San Francisco to give him a chance with Warner out the rest of the year, it may not be that simple.
Bay Area reporter Tim Kawakami shared on social media that Martin plays a different linebacker role than Warner and would not be able to be easily plugged into that role.
Kawakami wrote, "The 49ers do not cross-train at LB. Especially not for rookies. Especially-especially not at MLB. Either you're trained at MLB or you're not a MLB. It's a very specific role. Martin hasn't been trained at MLB and certainly couldn't be expected to pick it up on the fly in Year 1."
That means that Tatum Bethune is likely going to have to try fill the void left by Warner in the middle of the defense since he is the next MLB on the depth chart.
So, how do 49ers make up for Fred Warner's loss?
San Francisco could always go the trade route, but it is fair to wonder whether it would even be worth it to mortgage some of the team's future in a trade when the 49ers probably do not have enough firepower to make a Super Bowl run this season without Warner or Nick Bosa, two players who simply cannot be replaced via trade.
Even if Martin cannot neatly slide into Warner's specific linebacler role, the Niners should still start letting him play to see if he can provide some sort of spark on defense. He recorded six sacks in his best season at OSU in college, so he knows how to get to the quarterback. Why not put him out there and see if he can give the defense a boost after losing its two best players to season-ending injury?
It may not be pretty, but at this point, the 49ers need to get creative and take some risks to try and figure things out on defense so Martin should be out there even if he does not play the exact same position as Warner.