SANTA CLARA — Every general manager and head coach says the same thing immediately after selecting their first-round pick: “We couldn’t believe he was still there!”
In the case of the San Francisco 49ers, that well-worn line likely was true.
At some point early in Thursday’s draft, John Lynch picked up his phone, dialed an undisclosed general manager and inquired about trading up. He was rebuffed and the 49ers were certain that other team would end up taking Mykel Williams, the defensive end out of Georgia they’d circled early in the process.
“They shot him down,” Kyle Shanahan said of the trade attempt. “So we were ready to watch (Williams) go away and were ready to go to our second and third (options). But he didn’t go where he thought he was going to go.”
Lynch may have tipped the 49ers’ fondness for Williams during his pre-draft news conference Tuesday when he was asked about the traits the 49ers seek in defensive ends and the first criterion he listed was the ability to set a firm edge.
The 49ers believe Williams, who stands 6-5 and has 34 3/8th-inch arms, did that better than anyone else in college football last season, consistently knocking tackles and tight ends into the offensive backfield. It’s the type of thump the 49ers need. They were depleted along the defensive line last year and were terrible against the run in the home stretch of the season.
“Mykel is an excellent run player,” Lynch said, “one of the top in college football by the numbers, by our eyes.”
As far as the pass rush? Williams’ biggest blemish was his modest production last season — five sacks and 26 quarterback pressures. For context, Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr., who ended up being drafted 26th to the Atlanta Falcons, had 55 pressures.
Lynch and Shanahan noted that Georgia moved Williams around the formation, including lining up on the interior, and that he wasn’t always an edge rusher. They also pointed out that he suffered a high ankle sprain in the Bulldogs’ opening game, missed two contests and dealt with the injury the rest of the season.
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“It really wasn’t a smart decision at the time,” Williams said. “I just wanted to be out there with my guys.”
To the 49ers, the injury showed one of Williams’ best traits. Shanahan said he didn’t know he was playing with a bad ankle when he first watched his film.
“All right, that says a lot about his character, how tough he is that he only missed two games because of it,” Shanahan said. “And also the fact that he wasn’t healthy the whole time. Because I know how high ankle sprains linger.”
Said Lynch: “You don’t like that he had an ankle injury, but you give him a ton of credit.”
Williams checked a lot of boxes when it comes to 49ers’ draft habits.
First, he’s a defensive lineman. The 49ers have taken five in the first round since 2015. He also served as a team captain at Georgia, was one of the 49ers’ 30 pre-draft visitors and got an endorsement from Will Muschamp. The former South Carolina head coach, whom the 49ers used as a resource in drafting Deebo Samuel and Javon Kinlaw, is now with Georgia. He texted Lynch on Thursday evening to underscore the way Williams’ gritted his way through last season’s ankle injury.
The 49ers said that Williams is capable of lining up inside and exploiting favorable matchups against guards the way that Arden Key and Charles Omenihu have done in the past. Mostly, however, they see him as the bookend for Nick Bosa they’ve been seeking since Dee Ford started having injury issues during the 2019 season.
“When you first watched Nick at Ohio State — you didn’t appreciate him the first time you watched him,” Shanahan said. “But the more you watch him you realize how much of a ninja he is with his hands and hand placement and all that stuff. That’s how Mykel grows on you, too. The more you watch him it’s like, ‘I knew he was good. But he’s a lot better than I thought.’”
An excited Mykel Williams on playing with Nick Bosa: “I can’t wait to learn from him, really. I’ve got so many questions.”
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) April 25, 2025
Shanahan also noted that Williams is still two months shy of his 21st birthday, but looks and carries himself like an older player.
“We have a 20-year-old who looks like a man on tape,” he said.
After snagging a defensive end Thursday, the 49ers will spend Friday and Saturday focused on the interior of their defensive line.
“We still need more,” Lynch said. “We’ve got 10 more picks and (Williams) won’t be the only D-lineman.”
(Photo: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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