Other teams may have been turned off about one of Mykel Williams' traits, but that ended up working in the 49ers' favor.
The San Francisco 49ers were worried Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams wouldn't slip beyond the top 10 selections of the 2025 NFL Draft.
In fact, general manager John Lynch made it public they tried trading up from No. 11 overall to ensure Williams could be landed. According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Lynch attempted a trade-up with the Carolina Panthers, who held the eighth-overall pick, only to be rebuffed.
Fortunately for the Niners, it all worked out in the end. Williams slipped beyond the No. 9-drafting New Orleans Saints, who had been linked as a possible suitor for the defensive end, and right to San Francisco without having to engineer a trade.
But, why?
Granted, it's impossible to aggregate the 10 teams' full draft plans and thoughts of Williams. However, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, one concern about the Georgia phenom helped push him further and further down the draft board.
NFL teams were concerned about Mykel Williams' lack of production
Fowler compiled a list of post-draft notables for all 32 teams, circling various tidbits that were relevant to what each did during the three-day period.
For the 49ers, their ability to land Williams 11th overall stemmed from concerns about Williams' relative lack of production during his collegiate tenure.
Fowler described in detail:
"I talked to a few teams picking high who wondered whether San Francisco would move up for a playmaker such as Tetairoa McMillan or Colston Loveland. And the Saints (No. 9) had been linked to Mykel Williams, San Francisco's pick at No. 11, so a trade with Carolina would have allowed the Niners to get ahead of New Orleans, to be safe. But staying put worked out. And No. 5 pick Mason Graham considered the 49ers a potential landing spot if for some reason he slid into the back half of the top 10.
Williams had top-10 buzz early in the draft process. Then, some teams tried to knock his modest production (14 sacks in 40 college games) and 4.76 40 time. But things always regress to the mean closer to the draft, when athletic traits win out, so Williams went in somewhere close to his proper range. And his length and bend is among the best in the draft, perfect for the 49ers' defense."
The 14-sack collegiate career apparently didn't bode well for the 10 teams drafting ahead of the Niners. Plus, a nagging ankle injury that plagued Williams may have played a role in other teams opting not to draft Williams.
Or, just as possibly, teams drafting later were trying to highlight those numbers in an attempt to get the 6-foot-5 and 260-pound edge defender to slip even further.
Either way, it appears as if San Francisco fully benefited from other teams' concerns about stats, which can be important to evaluate but never fully reveal the true story.
Considering the 49ers got "their guy," they probably don't care what other teams thought anyway.