The Green Bay Packers could stand to add more firepower to their pass rush during the upcoming NFL Draft, having labored to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks at times in 2024.
Despite having heavily invested in Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness, they have held three premium assets at the position before, when Gary was behind Preston and Za’Darius Smith on the depth chart.
If they are to spend a first-round pick at edge rusher in 2025, Georgia’s Mykel Williams could be an option. He ticks plenty of boxes for them.
Williams has great size for the position at 6-5 and 260 pounds, and long arms at more than 34”. He is one of the youngest prospects in the class and will not turn 21 until the end of June.
He did not do much athletic testing due to recovering from injury, but did run the 40 and clocked a 4.77. That may not seem impressive for a player described as having freakish athleticism, but his 1.61 10-yard split ranks in 90th percentile and displays his explosive potential.
The Packers have taken plenty of players from Georgia’s formidable defense in recent years, so it stands to reason they would go back to that well, even if the results have not been stellar.
He has the positional versatility Green Bay likes, moving up and down the line of scrimmage. Williams was a multi-sport athlete in his youth, including basketball and wrestling, which is something the Packers often look for in prospects.
On tape, Williams has been more impressive as a run defender than as a pass rusher so far. He is a reliable contributor against the run and can use his natural power to dig in against single or double teams almost like a defensive tackle.
As a pass rusher, he is able to get his long arms into an opponent’s chest and generate push, but he is underdeveloped from a technique standpoint, not possessing many moves to win with.
More concerningly, his supposed explosiveness does not show up anywhere near often enough as a pass rusher whether it is by overwhelming an opponent physically or with speed and burst.
A considerable mitigating factor, at least in his 2024 tape, is that he suffered a high ankle sprain in week one and played through it for the rest of the season, which takes incredible toughness.
This will absolutely have impacted his play, but teams will love the effort he showed to get himself out on the field to help his team.
William’s pass rush production is not top tier. He had 85 pressures and 17 sacks in three college seasons.
The injury in 2024, as well as the role he was asked to play in Georgia’s defense, limited his ability to really get after it. There are not as many true pass rush snaps on his tape as you will see from other edge rusher prospects in this class.
It is well known the Packers value traits highly, and can excuse lower production as they project what a player will become, but if Brian Gutekunst drafts Williams, he would be the least productive pass rusher he has taken in terms of pressures per season as a college starter.
Gutekunst has been quoted in the past as saying: “we believe in rushing the passer. It’s very important to us”. He may not be keen on a run-defense-first player like Williams.
Even compared to Shemar Stewart, another toolsy pass rusher with modest college production, Williams does not have much proof of concept, on tape or the stat sheet, that he can be an explosive and impactful NFL pass rusher.
The lack of athletic testing could hurt his case. Gutekunst has never picked someone in the first round with as little athletic testing as Williams. He has a “great” RAS speed score, but all of Green Bay’s first round picks under Gutekunst, except for Jordan Love, had an “elite” speed score.
All these factors combined may be a lot to overcome for him to be the pick, given they already have Gary and Van Ness, whom they will be counting on to take a step forward in the second year of Jeff Hafley’s system.
On the surface, Williams is Green Bay’s type of rusher, but there are factors which would make the Packers taking him in round one, if he even makes it to pick 23, at least somewhat against some of the principles and methods they have established for drafting in Round 1.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Is Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams a fit with the Packers in Round 1?
The Green Bay Packers could stand to add more firepower to their pass rush during the upcoming NFL Draft, having labored to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks at times in 2024.
Despite having heavily invested in Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness, they have held three premium assets at the position before, when Gary was behind Preston and Za’Darius Smith on the depth chart.
If they are to spend a first-round pick at edge rusher in 2025, Georgia’s Mykel Williams could be an option. He ticks plenty of boxes for them.
Williams has great size for the position at 6-5 and 260 pounds, and long arms at more than 34”. He is one of the youngest prospects in the class and will not turn 21 until the end of June.
He did not do much athletic testing due to recovering from injury, but did run the 40 and clocked a 4.77. That may not seem impressive for a player described as having freakish athleticism, but his 1.61 10-yard split ranks in 90th percentile and displays his explosive potential.
The Packers have taken plenty of players from Georgia’s formidable defense in recent years, so it stands to reason they would go back to that well, even if the results have not been stellar.
He has the positional versatility Green Bay likes, moving up and down the line of scrimmage. Williams was a multi-sport athlete in his youth, including basketball and wrestling, which is something the Packers often look for in prospects.
On tape, Williams has been more impressive as a run defender than as a pass rusher so far. He is a reliable contributor against the run and can use his natural power to dig in against single or double teams almost like a defensive tackle.
As a pass rusher, he is able to get his long arms into an opponent’s chest and generate push, but he is underdeveloped from a technique standpoint, not possessing many moves to win with.
More concerningly, his supposed explosiveness does not show up anywhere near often enough as a pass rusher whether it is by overwhelming an opponent physically or with speed and burst.
A considerable mitigating factor, at least in his 2024 tape, is that he suffered a high ankle sprain in week one and played through it for the rest of the season, which takes incredible toughness.
This will absolutely have impacted his play, but teams will love the effort he showed to get himself out on the field to help his team.
William’s pass rush production is not top tier. He had 85 pressures and 17 sacks in three college seasons.
The injury in 2024, as well as the role he was asked to play in Georgia’s defense, limited his ability to really get after it. There are not as many true pass rush snaps on his tape as you will see from other edge rusher prospects in this class.
It is well known the Packers value traits highly, and can excuse lower production as they project what a player will become, but if Brian Gutekunst drafts Williams, he would be the least productive pass rusher he has taken in terms of pressures per season as a college starter.
Gutekunst has been quoted in the past as saying: “we believe in rushing the passer. It’s very important to us”. He may not be keen on a run-defense-first player like Williams.
Even compared to Shemar Stewart, another toolsy pass rusher with modest college production, Williams does not have much proof of concept, on tape or the stat sheet, that he can be an explosive and impactful NFL pass rusher.
The lack of athletic testing could hurt his case. Gutekunst has never picked someone in the first round with as little athletic testing as Williams. He has a “great” RAS speed score, but all of Green Bay’s first round picks under Gutekunst, except for Jordan Love, had an “elite” speed score.
All these factors combined may be a lot to overcome for him to be the pick, given they already have Gary and Van Ness, whom they will be counting on to take a step forward in the second year of Jeff Hafley’s system.
On the surface, Williams is Green Bay’s type of rusher, but there are factors which would make the Packers taking him in round one, if he even makes it to pick 23, at least somewhat against some of the principles and methods they have established for drafting in Round 1.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Is Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams a fit with the Packers in Round 1?
