Mykel Williams, Edge Defender

Height/Weight: 6-5, 265 lbs

Age: 20

School: Georgia Bulldogs

Season	Pass Rush Pressures	Sacks	Total Tackles
2022	33	6	21
2023	26	6	17
2024	26	5	15
Career Totals	85	17	53

Pros:

• Elite Play Strength and Leverage
  Mykel Williams uses every bit of his 6'5", 265-pound frame to bully offensive lineman on most every snap. His understanding of leverage, mixed with his outrageous strength to move 300-pound opposing lineman allow him to collapse the pocket, shed blocks, and make plays.
• First Round Ready Athleticism and Traits
  Williams has optimal length, build, burst, flexibility, and overall athleticism to chase down quarterbacks, running backs, and get into the backfield using his raw physical traits alone.
• Alignment and Schematic Versatility 
  Not many defenders of his size can swing inside and win against multiple interior blockers, but Williams can. He plays mostly outside the tackle, but he can win in the b-gap and lined up over offensive tackles too because of his versatile set of power moves off the line. He can play a stand-up edge rusher in odd fronts and a down lineman in a variety of thicker defensive line looks. And he's been winning against the best in the game since he was a true freshman.

For the guy who said nobody knows who Mykel Williams is, here he is pass rushing against the #6 pick in the draft as a true freshman pic.twitter.com/lrlCJ8fVt8 https://t.co/azNnhHsmOs

— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) November 21, 2023

Cons

• Inconsistent Performance
  Throughout his career Williams has posted some incredible performances. However, he's also disappeared at times. This season it's mostly been due to injury, but that wasn't the case last year. Williams will blow up for 5+ pressures and a multiple sacks in one game, but then follow that up with virtually nothing the week afterwards.
• Low Pass Rush Pressure and Win Rates
  Williams' inconsistent performance likely stems from his lower pass rush rate stats than one might expect. He's barely posting replacement level pressure and win rates this season around 10%, and part of that is likely due to injury, but Williams didn't have special or stable pass rush rate stats in prior seasons either. He needs to show more consistent early-snap win rates in pass rush if he's going to be worth a first round pick.
• Minor Injury Issues
  Williams is tough, and he's tried to play through some issues this year, but injuries have slowed him down. That's not incredibly concerning, but worth mentioning. He was dinged up at times in previous seasons as well and that possibly hurt his impact on the field too.

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Player Evaluation:

Mykel Williams is an elite raw athlete at edge rusher who leans on his strength to defeat the best talents that college football has to offer. His understanding in leverage once engaged in contact is phenomenal, as Williams will almost always break free, throwing offensive lineman around along the line of scrimmage.

However, he needs to work on a trump card or two in terms of pass rush moves if he's going to be a special NFL player. NFL strength and athleticism will be much closer to his level, so he needs to improve on finessing his way past offensive lineman rather than engaging, locking himself up, just hoping his talent wins out.

Player Comparison:

Travon Walker
No, this is not just because Travon Walker was also a Georgia Bulldog. Walker was too wildly impressive of an athlete for NFL teams to ever consider letting him drop down the draft board at all. Williams is right there with him in terms of peak potential. But like Walker, who has improved in his technique and found success, Williams is going to have to develop some little things that help him win outside of raw ability if he's going to find consistent dominance in the NFL.

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A to Z Rankings:

A to Z Big Board Ranking: 18

A to Z Draft Grade: 8.86 (out of 10)

Draft projection: Late 1st Round (8.01-9.00)

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