It doesn't appear as if everyone thinks the 49ers made the right call on Mykel Williams in Round 1 of the NFL Draft.
The San Francisco 49ers are banking on the massive potential upside of former Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams, their first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, taken at No. 11 overall.
Still just 20 years old, the 6-foot-5 and 260-pound defensive end already has a prowess as a quality run defender, which helps solve on the Niners' most glaring issues from a season ago. And general manager John Lynch is hoping Williams will ultimately hone his pass-rushing technique to ultimately become the perfect edge-type bookend opposite All-Pro Nick Bosa.
Williams had nagging injuries for almost all of 2024, so looking at his five sacks and nine tackles for a loss over 12 games played has to be taken in context.
That said, there's just as big a concern Williams could wind up being San Francisco's most recent first-round flop, following the likes of quarterback Trey Lance (2021), defensive end Solomon Thomas (2017) and linebacker Reuben Foster (2017).
And one Sports Illustrated analyst is predicting that'll be the case.
Analyst predicts Mykel Williams will be 49ers' latest draft bust
SI's Gilberto Manzano compiled a list of the five recently drafted prospects who are most likely to go bust.
Unfortunately, that list included Williams.
In his analysis, Manzano acknowledged the predictions were less about the player's talents and more about the drafting team's track record at the respective positions. So, from that vantage point, it makes some sense why Williams could be considered. After all, the 49ers haven't exactly had success finding a quality Bosa bookend over the years.
Manzano wrote:
"It’s tough to assess whether San Francisco finally found the right player to hold down the role for many years to come partly because Williams didn’t have the breakout junior season many expected him to have at Georgia due to a nagging ankle injury.
Still, Williams displayed plenty of toughness and leaned on his superior strength to shed off blockers and create pressure. But the No. 11 pick might not have the same upside as the edge rushers who went after him."
A caveat here, though, is Williams was likely the hand-picked choice by defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who was reportedly given some roster control after returning to the Bay Area following his dismissal from the New York Jets last year.
If that's the case, it'll be up to Saleh to push Williams into the high ceiling upon which the Niners are banking.
However, if that doesn't go well, one will ultimately have to lump San Francisco's top choice from this year's draft into a growing pile of first-round flops who never came close to meeting the hype.
