The San Francisco 49ers have 2 edge rushers, on paper, who seem like they should form 1 of the NFL’s elite duos at the position.
They also have 2 edge rushers, in real life, who are both coming off torn ACLs: former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa and 2025 1st-round pick Mykel Williams.
No one really knows when either Bosa or Williams is coming back, either, and head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia, is likely not happening.
“Shanahan now says Week 1 is ‘a longshot’ for DE Mykel Williams (knee) but ‘he is progressing well,’ ” The Athletic’s Vic Tafur wrote on his official X account on Tuesday afternoon.
Williams Called Out Over Rookie Year Struggles
Even before Williams tore his ACL in Week 9 of his rookie season, there were questions about his play.
The harsh truth is that the No. 11 overall pick wasn’t very good before the injury, and Pro Football Focus NFL reporter Bradley Locker put Williams at the top of his list of players under the most pressure to perform in Year 2.
“Williams was touted as a raw but high-upside prospect coming out of Georgia,” Locker wrote on July 7. “The 49ers took a shot on him with the 11th overall pick in 2025 but will need to see much more of the latter. Williams played only 385 snaps after suffering a torn ACL in Week 9, but the results were generally subpar. His 51.9 PFF pass-rush grade ranked 90th out of 95 qualified edge defenders, as he tallied just 19 pressures on an 8.8% pass-rush win rate. Despite his run-stopping prowess in college, Williams wasn’t dominant in that department either … after Bryce Huff’s retirement, the 49ers are counting on Williams to be a legitimate running mate for the returning Nick Bosa.”
Mykel Williams Didn’t Dominate in College
Williams only played 3 years at Georgia and was consistent but not dominant — meaning there wasn’t a marked improvement from his 1st to his 3rd and final season.
While Williams never had more than 5.0 sacks in 3 seasons, he also never had less than 4.5 sacks on the way to being a Freshman All-American in 2022 and a 2-time All-SEC selection in 2023 and 2024.
“An upside prospect with loads of traits, Williams simply needs more snaps and more time to fill out his frame,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “He is an explosive athlete who uses his exceptional length to keep tackles and tight ends at the end of his punch. He plays a little too tall at the point and needs to get stronger to shed blocks more quickly, but he plays with good physicality in the trenches and is never pushed around. He’s still learning moves and counters but already has a big bull rush, good secondary effort, and the closing burst to become a sack blanket in the pocket. He’s not there yet, but Williams’ improvement to become an impactful 4-3 base end feels inevitable.”
While the 49ers still have faith in Williams, they hedged their bets in the 2026 NFL Draft with 6-foot-3, 239-pound edge rusher Romello Height in the 3rd round (No. 70 overall).
Height had a wild college career, playing for 4 schools in 6 seasons with stops at Auburn, USC, Georgia Tech, and 1 final season at Texas Tech in 2025. With the Red Raiders, Williams had a breakout season, earning All-Big 12 honors with 10.0 sacks in 14 games, playing opposite edge rusher and No. 2 overall pick David Bailey.
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