49ers

49ers LB Fred Warner is fully cleared for football after working his way back from a broken and dislocated ankle. Warner explained how he turned to swimming for rehab to reduce swelling and take pressure off his ankle.

“I was constantly dealing with swelling,” Warner said, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic. “So when I would put it in the water and just kick, it was a natural flushing of the ankle. Every time I got out of the water, my ankle looked so much better than it did going in.”

San Jose State women’s swim and dive coach Sage Hopkins met Warner at the school’s pool and helped teach the All-Pro linebacker how to swim. Hopkins was blown away with Warner’s ability and believes he swims better than some Division I water polo athletes.

“He was going with almost a full bucket of water, which is a lot,” Hopkins said. “We’ve got sprinters on our team that couldn’t pull as much as him. So I figured this was stuff that would really resonate with him, that was in his wheelhouse.”

“Our curve was just exponential. I wish I would have videoed our starting point. As I told him (recently), he swims better than a lot of Division I water polo players.”

Warner felt his endurance was in a great spot during Wednesday’s practice, which could partially be attributed to his time swimming this offseason.

“My endurance was great. That was the least of my worries,” Warner said. “That was something I wondered about — kind of being thrown into the fire of a Wednesday practice format. And I just got thrown into all the individual drills with no restriction. I felt great. I thought it was a best-case scenario of how it went that day.”

49ers

The 49ers selected second-round WR De’Zhaun Stribling with their first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. San Francisco HC Kyle Shanahan said he only takes players whom he’s impressed by on film. 

“And I always tell them, ‘If I don’t like the highlight tape, then I’m not gonna watch anything after,’” Shanahan said, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic. “So those guys have to put a lot of work into the highlight tape.”

49ers vice president of personnel Tariq Ahmad said they compile videos on prospects, focusing on how their skill sets fit into their system. 

“When we make these tapes, we want to show what these players can do, what their maximum talent is and also how they fit for us — what we’ll do with them,” Ahmad said. “You’re able to sell that vision of what that player can do when they’re here with us.”

Ahmad said Stribling’s catching ability stood out throughout his college career. 

“We felt he could really pluck the ball,” Ahmad said. “I thought he was excellent at just ripping the ball out of the air on contested catches.”

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