Trent Williams says Nick Bosa will be ‘pivotal tool’ in knocking off rust

Offensive tackle Trent Williams hasn't played an NFL snap since 2018. He finds himself returning to the game with a new team after a trade sent him from Washington to the San Francisco 49ers.

Williams has stayed in shape, though, and identified one tool available to him in his preparation for the 2020 season — new teammate Nick Bosa.

Williams considers the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year to be one of the game's best pass rushers and can't wait to go against him in practices.

"He's going to be a pivotal tool for me to use to knock the rust off," Williams told reporters on Thursday via a video conference call. "Probably one of the biggest challenges that I can face all year is Nick. I think he's one of the top four or five rushers in the game.

"To get that work and to be able to have that every day, and we can kind of bounce ideas off each other and talk each other through it, I think it's going to work out as a best-case for me, and I hope definitely he gains just as much as I do from it."

So far, the 49ers have only conducted 60-minute walk-throughs. Although, Williams admits that his new team's walk-throughs are so intense and full of energy that they feel closer to a game. That will ramp up to 75-minute walk-throughs in the coming days. After that will come practices with minimal pads and then, finally, fully-padded practices during the next phase.

Bosa admitted earlier this offseason that he started reviewing some film of Williams shortly after the 49ers traded for the veteran tackle. Not too much, though. After all, he is guaranteed not to have to go against him during a game this season and would get a good look at him in training camp.

Bosa was asked on Thursday what he has been able to learn from this early evaluation of Williams.

"I'm more focused on getting my technique down, and honing in on my skills right now," Bosa told reporters. "But we're doing walk-throughs together, so I'm just seeing how he moves, just getting a little intel. But you don't know until you get the pads on, and he's really shooting hands, and trying to block you for real.

"But just my observations so far is that he works extremely hard, and he's a really cool guy in the locker room."

Bosa admits, though, that Williams was one of the NFL offensive tackles that he would watch during his time at Ohio State. The athletic Williams is different, after all.

"Offensive tackles don't usually get the most publicity, but Trent is one of the guys that does," Bosa explained. "He was always on the Top 100, always just known to be one of the best athletes in the game. It's just fun to watch when you see a tackle running downfield and moving like a linebacker. He looks impressive just in person.

"I definitely didn't idolize tackles and watch their film like that, but Trent was always known as the best tackle since I've been a fan of the game, so watching him play with the [Washington Football Team] was pretty cool."