A new era of football is here for the San Francisco 49ers. Losing a lot of key stars this offseason, the franchise went all-in on the draft, looking to find cheaper players who could potentially contribute right away. One of the players that the 49ers selected this year, first round edge rusher Mykel Williams, is a guy who the 49ers are very high on and expect to be an impact player from the jump.
And from the looks of things so far, Williams has all the makings to be a star. In fact, his performance throughout the 49ers’ offseason workouts have earned him immense praise from the coaching staff, particularly from his defensive line coach, Kris Kocurek.
Kocurek Praises Williams Early On
Even though Williams has not taken an actual snap for the 49ers, he has already shown the coaching staff that he can be a legit counterpart for star pass rusher, Nick Bosa. Since Bosa arrived in 2019, the franchise has struggled to find a second guy to pair with him but with Williams, Kocurek is confident that things will be different.
“What we saw on college tape and all the information that we gathered in pre-draft process concerning him as a person, all the boxes have checked off so far,” Kocurek said to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jennifer Lee Chan. “His toughness, his love for the game, the skill set that we’ve seen on tape, the skill set that his coaches at Georgia explained that he had in his body, a lot of the boxes have checked so far.”
2025 is a pivotal year for the 49ers. Going into last year eager to avenge a Super Bowl loss from 2023, the team ended up stumbling to a 6-11 record– dealing with a slew of injuries in the process. Hungrier than ever for the franchise’s sixth title, the 49ers will need Williams to be the guy they drafted him to be.
Williams’ Role with the 49ers This Season
With Williams, the 49ers hope that they have a long term answer. Signing Leonard Floyd last season hoping for the same thing, the veteran ended up with 8.5 sacks but because of several factors including salary concerns, he was released after only one season. Much younger, cheaper and having more room to grow, Kocurek is very confident that Williams will fit with the scheme and the role he earns as a rookie, but also acknowledges that time will tell.
“So far so good,” Kocurek said. “Really impressed with the kid, his love for the game, his toughness, his eagerness to learn. And then the skill set that backs that all up. Arrow is pointing up on all of that.”
But, at the same time, Kocurek also made it clear that even though Williams’ has performed admirably in camp, it will be hard to tell what they truly have in him until he suits up for an actual game.
“Now, we are out there in a geared down setting in OTA football right now,” Kocurek said. “You won’t truly get the true assessment until we get the pads on in August and really start going at this at the level that kind of correlates more to Sundays.”
