One thing Richard Sherman has never done is bite his tongue.

This time he's feeling frisky when it comes to the San Francisco 49ers' chances in 2019, and isn't afraid to show it. While the biggest headline in training camp is rightfully the return of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in 2018, the four-time All Pro cornerback would also like a light aimed at the team's defensive unit. Sherman joined the Niners in 2018 on a three-year, $39 million contract following what was an incomparable career with the rival Seattle Seahawks -- where he was a staple of the legendary "Legion of Boom" defense. 

With the LOB now fully dismantled, football fans are wondering when and where they'll see the next iteration of it, and Sherman says look no further than Levi's Stadium.

"I see similarities now, obviously, with all the pass rushers we have now, all the talent we have up front," he told NFL Network. "The linebackers are versatile. They can run, they can cover. And then in the backend, we've got tall, rangy corners.

"We've got Jason Verrett now -- who's very versatile. K'Waun [Williams] is a great slot [cornerback], and we've got a hitter in the strong safety box, so I think we're going to be similar. Obviously, it's the scheme, schematically, it's similar, but we'll see. We've got to be consistent. 

"We've had some really good days out here. You've got to stack them, though, as you know."

Sherman isn't getting any younger, and although the 31-year-old still has tread left on the tires, asking him to operate on an island in 2019 isn't the same as doing so in 2013 -- when he hauled in eight interceptions for the second consecutive season. There's also the fact the Niners need to regain their swagger when it comes to intercepting the ball, because they're coming off of a season where they registered a league-worst two interceptions on the year, and that's a far cry from when the Sherman-infused Seahawks racked up a league-best 28 INTs in 2013. The Niners weren't far off of that stellar mark in 2014 with 23 interceptions, but that feels like forever ago because they struggled to get 10 in 2016 through 2017, before barely landing one at all last season. 

Sherman is the elder statesman of the secondary and knows the unit will only be as successful as the defensive front, the good news being the Niners aren't naive to that, either. To that end, they used the second-overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft on former Ohio State edge rusher Nick Bosa, and that was just over six weeks after having struck a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs to land defensive end Pro Bowl defensive end Dee Ford.

The team then immediately granted Ford a five-year, $87.5 million extension, ensuring what should be an impressive pass rush combo for years to come.

"It does make a huge difference," Sherman said of the acquisitions. "No slight to anybody else that came before, but these guys are getting to the passer, and they're putting pressure, making the quarterback uncomfortable in his footwork. So they are airing passes, they're off their back foot, they're not putting it exactly where they want it to be. That gives DBs a chance."

There's obviously work to be done before the Niners can consider their defense similar to what Sherman left behind in Seattle, but the framework is already being laid. Hiring defensive coordinator Robert Saleh in 2017, who was a defensive assistant for the Seahawks from 2011-2013 before spending time in Jacksonville with Gus Bradley -- the former Seahawks defensive coordinator -- saw the team begin laying the foundation for trying to mirror the Legion of Boom's construct. In assessing the roster, however, the team is missing the caliber of talent that once dominated the league from the Pacific Northwest.

There are talented linebackers in San Fransisco, but none are Bobby Wagner. There are talented safeties, but none are Kam Chancellor or Earl Thomas. The optimism from Sherman is justified, but pumping the brakes a bit on any LOB comparison would be wise, especially when considering the how it comes tethered to monstrous expectations and a pressure to perform that the young talent haven't yet come up against at the NFL level. Then again, maybe injecting those two things into the equation is Sherman's hidden agenda. 

It's true he's not making any new friends in his former home of Seattle with what he just said, but he also doesn't care. It's yet another NFL season, and Sherman's tongue remains absent any teeth impressions.