Veteran San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman recently said third-year cornerback Emmanuel Moseley would greatly benefit from the first-team reps he is about to get in training camp. That sounds like a vote of confidence from Sherman that Moseley is a shoo-in to fight off any competition for the starting job opposite him.
"I think he'll have a whole training camp of starting," Sherman told The Athletic. "It's a different preparation and a different mindset when you come into the year knowing where you stand and being able to prepare in that way. And I think that will be good for him."
Sherman sat down — virtually — with the media on Tuesday and was asked about Moseley and if he could elaborate on his praise of the young defender. Sherman responded by rattling off a lengthy list of attributes that make Moseley, in Sherman's eyes, so talented.
"He does a lot of things well," Sherman said. "He's really smart. He adjusts as he goes. He learns. He gets smarter throughout the game. He's poised. He's poised in big games. The moments are never too big for him. He's consistent. He's consistent in practice. He's consistent in the games. And he'll only get better."
The 49ers signed Moseley as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee in 2018. He registered 50 combined tackles, eight passes defensed, and an interception through 16 games in 2019.
Nine of those 16 game appearances were starts after Moseley replaced injured cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. Witherspoon returned to his starting role in the playoffs but was quickly replaced by Moseley.
Moseley started in the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers and recorded an interception against Aaron Rodgers. He went on to start in Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs.