Mykel Williams was the first Georgia Bulldogs player off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft as he landed with the San Francisco 49ers with the 11th overall pick in the first round on Thursday.
And his selection was predictably a very popular one back in Athens, where the members of the Bulldogs not entering the draft this year were locked in on events in Green Bay.
The Bulldogs posted the response of the team to Williams being selected, with the team celebrating wildly as the 49ers took him to start at their defensive end spot across from Nick Bosa.
Georgia had 13 players selected across the seven rounds, and the Bulldogs will obviously be delighted to see each of those players achieve their dream of making it to the league.
But the reaction to Williams going to the Niners speaks to how well respected he was in the Bulldogs' locker room, which surely appreciated him playing through injury in his final season as he fought through a high-ankle sprain suffered in the season opener against the Clemson Tigers.
Speaking after the first round, 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke very highly of Williams' character.
Asked about whether he checked in with Georgia head coach Kirby Smart to ask about Williams during the pre-draft process, Lynch said: "You know what, I am tight with Kirby, but pretty soon and early in this process it was apparent that Mykel was a guy for us. And so, we kind of laid low on that.
"The character of this kid is impeccable. The scouts did a tremendous job delivering the information. We saw everything we liked. And so, sometimes it’s best just to let things lie and we did."
The reaction of his now former teammates speaks to that character, which the 49ers will hope will allow him to settle quickly in their locker room and make an immediate impact in the pros.
