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Are the 49ers Concerned About Defensive End Mykel Williams?

If Williams can't stay on the field, the 49ers already have a replacement for 2025.
Grant Cohn|
May 9, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Mikel Williams (98) cools off during a water break from the teamís rookie minicamp. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
May 9, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Mikel Williams (98) cools off during a water break from the teamís rookie minicamp. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

When the 49ers traded for Bryce Huff a couple weeks ago, it seemed he would complement first-round pick Mykel Willams.

But a few days after the 49ers made the trade, they had their second week of OTA practices and Willams was not a full participant. He was on the side of the field working through a hamstring injury. This week during minicamp, same thing.

Williams hasn't practiced in weeks. Meanwhile, the 49ers just brought in a veteran defensive end who's not cheap. To be fair, 49ers defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos missed the entire spring program as well, so the 49ers are thin at this position.

But Williams is more important than Gross-Matos. Williams is the 49ers' first-round pick, and they took him top 11. He has to be good. And he's only 20, so he needs as many practices as possible to get up to speed. Otherwise, he won't be ready to start Week 1.

Williams has had injury issues dating back to college. Last season, he played through a high-ankle sprain that he suffered in the season opener. The 49ers praised him for his toughness, but in retrospect, he showed he might be injury prone. Because now he's injured again and training camp hasn't even started yet.

The 49ers have to be prepared for a world in which Williams can't stay healthy in the NFL -- he had trouble staying healthy in college. That's a big reason Huff is on this team. Ideally, Huff and Williams will play together on third downs.

But if Williams can't stay on the field, the 49ers already have a replacement for 2025.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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