Maybe San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh wasn't as confident about his team's chances heading into the 2018 season. I am joking, of course, but a story shared by recently-retired Joe Staley paints a picture where the offensive lineman might have been thinking that.
The 49ers had just concluded their second offseason under head coach Kyle Shanahan. It was 2018, and Shanahan, as he does every year, invited his players and the staff over to his house for a party before the grind of the season kicked off.
Staley sat down next to Saleh, and the two started talking football. Staley shared what that discussion was about during the Bussin' with the Boys podcast.
"He's telling me, 'Dude, there's this kid in college,'" Staley shared with Will Compton and Taylor Lewan. "He's like, 'We're going to add him next year. It's going to be unbelievable. It's Nick Bosa from Ohio State. You have to see this kid. He's unbelievable. He's going to transform our defense.'
"In my mind, I'm like, 'There's not a f--king shot in the world we're going to get him. That means we're going to be like the No. 1 overall pick in the f--king draft. I hope we don't f--king add this kid to our team.' And then it transpired that we ended up getting him, and we ended up having the bad year."
Bosa made quite an impression on Staley in just one year with the team. The young pass rusher helped transform the defensive front into a force this past season. Staley had opportunities to go against him during parts of the offseason.
"That dude is special," Staley added. "I was around Aldon (Smith) when Aldon was tearing up the league back in like 2011, 12, 13, and I never thought I would see a guy that was as talented as Aldon was, but Nick is every bit as good as Aldon was. That kid is really special."
You can listen to the entertaining conversation with Staley below.
