Niners Nation
Breaking down the 90 players on the 49ers’ offseason roster in 90 posts (over 90 or so days). Today is DL Mykel Williams
There have been plenty of occasions throughout Kyle Shanahan’s career where the San Francisco 49ers didn’t need to play a rookie right away. You could argue there were other times when the first-year player should have played from the get-go.
In Mykel Williams’s case, the only person stopping him from starting and playing from Day 1 is himself. The 49ers drafted Williams to be the catalyst in stopping the run. Judging by some of the quotes from the coaching staff this spring and his usage at Georgia, Williams will also be relied upon to be an interior presence against the pass rush.
Is that too much to ask of a soon-to-be 21-year-old? We’ll find out.
Age: 21 (his birthday is 6/29)
Experience: Rookie
Height: 6’5
Weight: 260 pounds
Williams has a cap number of $4.53 million as a rookie. His base salary is $840,000, and his signing bonus of $14.78 million comes to $3.69 million when prorated for 2025. The rookie wage scale is relatively straightforward, so these contracts are cut and dry and were intended to avoid holdouts. But don’t tell Cincinnati that.
Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek was asked whether Williams would be an edge rusher or an interior pass rusher, and his answer was “both.” Kocurek saw Williams get to the quarterback from outside and inside. He highlighted Williams’ versatility and compared him to players who have thrived in that role under his watch in previous years, including Arden Key, Charles Omenihu, and Arik Armstead.
The difference between the three mentioned above and Williams is there are no guessing games with Mykel. He did it at Georgia. Kocurek is confident that Williams’s learning curve won’t be as steep as others since he has experience playing up and down the line of scrimmage.
Fans often get hung up on measurables when comparing players, but it’s more about the role. Key weighed 238 pounds. Omenihu was 280. Armstead was over 290. They all played the same role. That’s what we’re focused on here. The role Mykel will play.
Robert Saleh’s hand was forced in 2020, prompting Armstead to move inside due to injuries to every defensive tackle being hurt. Armstead stuck with that role in 2021, where he played around the same number of snaps on the edge as he did at defensive tackle. That’s likely the role Williams will have as a rookie, and it makes even more sense after the team acquired Bryce Huff.
Huff’s speed will force opposing quarterbacks to stay or step up in the pocket. That helped Arik back in 2021 when he finished 11th among all interior defensive linemen in winning percentage and was third in sacks.
It’s ambitious to think a rookie can match that production, but the blueprint is there for Williams to excel as a rookie.
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