San Francisco 49ers select Mykel Williams in first round round of 2025 NFL Draft

The San Francisco 49ers selected Georgia Bulldogs edge rusher Mykel Williams in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He entered the NFL after spending the last three seasons at Georgia.

Williams made an impact as soon as he arrived in Athens. In 2022, Mykel Williams was named to the Freshman All-America and SEC All-Freshman Team after posting 28 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in 15 games with two starts. In that season, Williams helped the Bulldogs win the national title.

In 2023, Williams was selected to the All-SEC Second Team after notching 18 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups ups and a forced fumble in 13 games with 10 starts. Last year, Williams was named to the All-SEC Second Team again after tallying 21 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in 12 games with six starts. He helped Georgia win the SEC title for the second time in three seasons.

“I was injured the whole year, never healthy,” Williams said in February, per ESPN. “I was messed up pretty bad. It was extremely frustrating [with people] not knowing the full story. “I decided to take the first two to three weeks [after the season] to rest my ankle and try to get it back under me.”

Mykel Williams played high school football at Hardaway in Columbus, Georgia. He ranked as the No. 6 overall prospect and the No. 2 defensive lineman in the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Mykel Williams

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com gave his analysis of Williams in his draft profile. Zierlein compared him to Gregory Rousseau, a defensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills who has recorded 25 sacks in four seasons.

“An upside prospect with loads of traits, Williams simply needs more snaps and more time to fill out his frame,” Zierlein wrote. “He is an explosive athlete who uses his exceptional length to keep tackles and tight ends at the end of his punch.

“He plays a little too tall at the point and needs to get stronger to shed blocks more quickly, but he plays with good physicality in the trenches and is never pushed around. He’s still learning moves and counters but already has a big bull rush, good secondary effort and the closing burst to become a sack blanket in the pocket. He’s not there yet, but Williams’ improvement to become an impactful 4-3 base end feels inevitable.”