Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - In the days leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, WGR will provide profiles on some players that could be a good fit for the Buffalo Bills at positions of need.
As we continue to focus on defensive ends, this profile will feature Mykel Williams, who when he hears his name called at the NFL Draft, he won't legally be able to celebrate with a beer. Williams is just 20-years-old, and won't turn 21 until June 29.
When Williams is selected, it will mark the fourth-straight year a defensive linemen from the University of Georgia is drafted.
Williams was a four-star prospect coming out of high school in Columbus, Ga., and was rated the sixth-best defensive line prospect in the country. He won the Maxwell Football National Defensive Player of the Year award.
He initially committed to play his college football at USC, but then decided to remain in the Peach State to join the Bulldogs.
Williams made an impact on the powerhouse Bulldogs program right away. He played in 15 games in 2022, and was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. Georgia also won the National Championship that season.
In 2023, Williams led the team in sacks, and was named Second-Team All-SEC. He made Second-Team All-Conference honors once again last season, and was second on the team with five sacks. His numbers were likely affected by the fact he played through an ankle injury.
The career stat line for Williams in Athens included 67 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, three passes defended and three forced fumbles. More than 30% of his career tackles went for a loss.
Williams has been invited by the NFL to be at the draft in person this year.
Here is what Joe Marino from the “Locked on Bills” and “Locked on NFL Scouting” podcasts has to say about Williams:
Positives:
Really clean projection from the type of player he is to the type of defense the Bills run, and what they typically ask out of their edge players.
Length and power is the name of the game. I think Williams is a tremendous run defender, which is typically true from these Georgia defensive ends. He can really set the edge, squeeze gaps, take on pullers, very outstanding run defender.
He's the type of edge rusher that can really reduce rush angles and power through the edges of blocks. I think he is smooth and fluid as an athlete, very dynamic first step. I think his game is built off of power, and he's got a really good ability to convert speed to power and create that bull rush. Once that's starting to work for him, there are a lot of counters that he has off of it.
I love how he maximizes his length and plays with extension. Not only to help him deploy pass rush moves or to increase his tackle radius, but he also does a very good job of getting his hands in throwing lanes to affect the quarterback in a number of different ways.
Concerns:
I would like to see him develop more counters and ways to soften rush angles. He is a power player, but I think there's some speed and some flexibility that exists here as well, so I'd like to see him develop a little bit more of the pass rush repertoire.
He's had some injuries that have kind of taken away from his production. I worry that we haven't seen the fullness of what he can do. The last couple years, there's been some lower-body injuries that have kind of taken away from him being completely healthy on the field.
I think as a 6-foot-5 rusher, he can play tall, so he has to stay leveraged in his rush to not be too upright and offer too much surface area to blockers. That kind of robs himself of power and invites players to get into his frame.
WGR will provide full coverage of the 2025 NFL Draft during all seven rounds, starting Thursday, April 24 and continuing through Saturday, April 26.
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