No defensive player for the San Francisco 49ers has a bigger spotlight on them this year than rookie first-round pick Mykel Williams.
The No. 11 overall pick comes with lofty expectations given his draft status, but general manager John Lynch told Matt Maiocco on the 49ers Talk podcast why the team became so enamored with Williams that they tried to trade up into the top 10 to get him.
“Mykel was that guy for us,” Lynch said. “And so what do we like? I think we love the fact he played in the best conference, you know, in Georgia, a program that really develops tough, really skilled football players. If you’ve been to one of their practices — it’s extremely physical. So he’s been through that. He’s battle tested in that way.
“We’ve seen the versatility. It’s not just projected versatility. We’ve seen him play all over their defensive line. He’s 20 years old when we drafted him, so the best is yet to come. When you’re around — despite his youth — when you’re around Mykel there’s a maturity. There’s a wisdom. There’s a comfort in his own skin that just made it feel like he’s one of us. And we’re thrilled to have him.”
This is a great first step for Williams and it makes a ton of sense why the 49ers would be eager to get him in their building as a key piece of a revamped defensive line. He got through OTAs and minicamp successfully, but now he’ll need to start putting it together between the lines for San Francisco.
They’re relying heavily on him to be productive out of the gate. Lynch and the 49ers are hoping all the boxes he checked in the pre-draft process will help him become a high-quality defensive lineman early in his career. That will be determined once he gets pads on and gets to play football in the NFL.
For now, the reasons for optimism about Williams are growing going into his rookie campaign.
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