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2025 NFL Draft: Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams selected No. 11 overall by San Francisco

On3 imageby:Jake Rowe•04/24/25•

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Mykel Williams Georgia
Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams (13) during Georgia’s game against Texas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)

Another Georgia defender is off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft. After three years in Athens, Mykel Williams was taken No. 11 overall by San Franciso on Thursday night. He’s the first Bulldog drafted in the first round and the second UGA defensive end to go in the first round in the past four years. Travon Walker went No. 1 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Williams had a consistently stellar career at Georgia where, from a production standpoint, he outpaced Bulldog greats like Walker, Jalon Carter, Jordan Davis, and numerous others. The Columbus, Georgia native, played a ton of snaps as a true freshman in 2022 and started one game. He finished that season with 28 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks to lead the team. The Bulldogs went 15-0 and won a National Championship that season.

The following season was very similar on the stat sheet as Williams had the same number of sacks and tackles for loss while racking up 18 total tackles and forcing a fumble. Despite missing two full games and being limited in several more, Williams posted the best numbers of his Georgia career as a junior. He amassed 21 total tackles. 8.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks. He also broke up two passes and forced a pair of fumbles. A high-ankle sprain in the season opener against Clemson, after tallying two tackles for loss in the first three quarters, slowed him for most of the regular season.

“He was a warrior this whole year,” Smart said of Williams this spring, prior to UGA’s Pro Day. “He was dead set: he wanted to play in the Alabama game and pushed so hard to come back. And he wasn’t 100% then, and there was a lot of games he only played a few snaps in because he wasn’t 100%. If you go back to the Auburn game, he was jumping and tearing at the bit to get in those games. 

Expectations were high for Williams from the jump. He was the nation’s No. 6 overall prospect in the 2022 class per the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that includes all four websites that publish recruiting rankings. He was the No. 2 defensive lineman in that class and the No. 2 player in Georgia.

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