If you are a young pass rusher, one of the highest compliments you can receive is having one of the best offensive tackles in the game praise you. That's what new San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Trent Williams did last week while speaking with Ian Rapoport of NFL Media about defensive end Nick Bosa during the RapSheet + Friends podcast.
Bosa is preparing to enter his second NFL season after an impressive rookie campaign that ended with the young pass rusher being named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. His older brother, Joey Bosa of the Los Angeles Chargers, accomplished the same feat three years earlier.
Fans got to finally listen to the entire conversation between Williams and Rapoport this week, as the new podcast episode dropped on Monday. Rapoport asked the tackle how he feels about facing one of the best defensive fronts in the game during practices, explicitly asking about Bosa.
"I'm looking forward to it," Williams responded. "When I looked for a team to go to, I looked at the opposite side of the ball to see who can I sharpen my iron on every day in practice. When I get out there on the field, I can't come up with a rust excuse. All of that, to me, doesn't exist. I'd rather be rusty in practice and be able to sharpen my iron then than to try and do it Monday night with all the cameras on me.
"For me, coming to this organization where the defense is probably the best in the league -- when you think about defensive lines that get after the quarterback, I think anybody with a pulse is going to throw the 49ers front out there within the first, second, or third groups to mention."
Of course, we don't know when those one-on-one matches between Williams and Bosa will take place. NFL teams are still conducting their offseason programs virtually amid continued concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whenever practices are allowed, Williams knows going against the 49ers defense will prepare him to get back on the football field after missing all of last season.
"That in itself excites me as a competitor," Williams continued, "because I know I can get some of the best work done during the week so that on Sundays, you're not going to see too many guys better than that group, especially not any individuals that much better than Bosa, I think. They just don't have many guys in the league that's just better than him.
"For me, [going against Bosa and the 49ers defensive front is] going to do everything for me to get me back to where I know I can be at."
You can listen to Rapoport's entire conversation with Williams below. It begins at about the 20:30 mark.