Mykel Williams‘ pre-draft itinerary is becoming quite busy. After meetings with the Cardinals, Saints and 49ers surfaced, the Georgia edge defender prospect will run his meeting count toward 10.
The Buccaneers, Cowboys, Jets, Patriots and Seahawks have also brought in the first-round talent for “30” visits, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reports. Listed as the No. 22 overall prospect on Daniel Jeremiah’s NFL.com big board, Williams is among the latest in a wave of Georgia defender prospects considered a safe bet to be a first-round pick.
[RELATED: Panthers Showing Interest In Williams]
The Bulldogs sent five defenders (Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt and Lewis Cine) into the 2022 first round and saw two more (Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith) go in Round 1 in 2023. Both the Bulldogs’ 2024 first-rounders (Brock Bowers, Amarius Mims) came on offense, but this year will introduce another wave of Bulldog defenders to the NFL masses on Day 1 of the draft. Williams joins hybrid linebacker Jalon Walker and safety Malaki Starks as first-round candidates.
Williams spent each of his three years at Georgia, earning second-team All-SEC honors in 2023 and ’24. A former five-star recruit, Williams did not quite live up to expectations in Athens. He did not eclipse five sacks or 10 tackles for loss in a season, though he was a regular on three Georgia defenses — including a national championship-winning 2022 group. An ankle injury hindered Williams’ play in 2024. Still, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound rusher’s size and athleticism has him squarely on the first-round radar. Unlike Walker, Williams is a pure edge rusher who will not enter the NFL with questions about his best positional fit.
The Bucs have been mentioned as a team that could still target an edge rusher despite their Haason Reddick signing. Tampa Bay has needed consistent help from non-edge players to produce sacks in recent years. Barring an unexpected blockbuster trade, Dallas has Micah Parsons anchoring a D-end contingent that houses a returning Sam Williams, 2024 second-rounder Marshawn Kneeland and Dante Fowler, who rejoined the team after a year in Washington. DeMarcus Lawrence left for the Seahawks, who cut Dre’Mont Jones as part of their latest cap purge. The team still rosters Boye Mafe, Derick Hall and Uchenna Nwosu, who has seen back-to-back injury-shortened seasons lead to a reworked contract.
Neither the Jets nor Patriots appear in range for Williams, as the AFC East squads both hold top-10 picks. A trade-up move could conceivably be in play, though both can use these meetings to gather intel on Williams as a potential future opponent as well. The Pats reunited Mike Vrabel with Harold Landry last month but could still use another edge defender. The Jets split with Reddick to wrap a tumultuous partnership but still feature starters Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald.
This will be such a difficult draft to participate in with so many question marks at the top but also a lot of players at each position who could end up being very good in the NFL.
The closest thing to a sure thing is Carter, with Ward and Hunter and everybody else being major gambles who could either pay off or flop big time.
These Edge/LBs are probably the best example (along with RB, WR, CB, and OL) of that. After Carter, the most sure thing is probably Pearce but he has the huge off the field issues. The other guys largely didn’t have big production in college and are gonna be drafted entirely based on skills and upside.
I really can’t wait to see how it all unfolds next Thursday. This draft could make or break several franchises for the near future.