49ers think they got a steal in Mykel Williams at 11, tried to trade into Top 10 for him

The 49ers identified Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams as one of the players they most wanted ahead of the 2025 NFL draft. But with the 11th overall pick, they didn't think they could get him. They were pleasantly surprised he fell out of the Top 10.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said GM John Lynch was trying to trade into the Top 10 to get Williams, but the 49ers' offers were turned down.

"We had a good idea he was going earlier, and you don't actually know. We thought about going up and John definitely attempted. . . . But they shot him down," Shanahan said, via 49ers.com. "And so, we were ready to watch him go away and we were ready to go to our second and third, but he didn't go where we thought he was going to go. Then we got to our pick and I was like, 'I can't believe you tried to trade there, of course he was coming [laughter].' So that's our thing about the draft, you never know. But we stuck there and waited for our guy and we got the guy we wanted."

Lynch said the evaluation of Williams across the board, in the personnel department and on the coaching staff, was unanimous.

"I was just talking to [defensive line coach] Kris Kocurek and he said this when we went through our draft meetings, 'I think he's the best edge setter in college football. I think he's the best edge setter in this draft class.' So, if that's the premise of one of the things that's a hallmark of what we want in an edge guy, he does it extremely well," Lynch said.

The 49ers used their first five picks on defense, and they think they've reinvigorated their roster on that side of the ball. Starting with a defensive lineman they never thought they could get with the 11th overall pick.