Buccaneers keeping close eye on ‘consensus first-round pick'

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers worked hard this offseason to improve from their 2024 Wild Card team. Many of the Bucs' issues a season ago came on the defensive side of the ball, as they struggled at all three levels.

Along the trenches, the Bucs were one of the worst teams at getting to the quarterback for sacks last season, with most of the team's total sacks coming from the interior à la Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey.

Second-year edge Yaya Diaby was able to provide plenty of pressure from his outside linebacker position, but his counterpart on the other side, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, failed to ever materialize into the player the Bucs were hoping for. Youth and depth at the position also played a role in this, and Tampa Bay will be looking for Chris Braswell to take a leap into his sophomore season.

Tryon-Shoyinka is now no longer on the roster after the team let him walk in free agency, but instead of waiting for the draft to attack this position of need, the Bucs signed controversial edge rusher Haason Reddick to a one-year deal.

The hope is that Reddick will once again return to the sack monster he was before his one-year stint in New York with the Jets, but the Bucs will also likely look at the edge position in the upcoming draft to further solidify the position group and build for the future.

One of those collegiate players the Bucs are keeping a close eye on is Georgia Bulldogs edge Mykel Williams, who has visited with the team along with a host of others as he is viewed as a "consensus first-round pick" according to Mike Garafolo.

Georgia edge Mykel Williams, a consensus first-round pick, is currently touring the NFC West. He visited the #49ers yesterday, is at the #Seahawks today and will head to the #AZCardinals tomorrow. Williams has also visited the #Patriots, #Cowboys, #Jets, #Buccaneers and #Saints. pic.twitter.com/D43ZNPXURx
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 8, 2025

Williams has visited a host of teams thus far, and unfortunately for Tampa Bay, all the teams that have brought him in for a visit have a higher first-round pick.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Williams will be gone by the time the Buccaneers pick at 19th overall, but it does lessen the chances that he will still be on the board with many teams looking to improve their pass rush in a deep class.

Williams is an elite specimen at 6'5" and 260 pounds. He is explosive off the edge and comes with plenty of upside for a player with a ton of natural traits at his disposal. With exceptional length and physicality, Williams is hard to push around for opposing linemen and tight ends. He has a strong bull rush and a strong motor and closes the deal once he is in the backfield — something the Bucs drastically lacked in 2024.

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III is defended by Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The upside is there for Williams, who will still need to fill out his frame a bit and get stronger in order to shed blocks faster. He will also need to learn to play lower at the point of attack rather than standing up, where he can sometimes get unbalanced.

The biggest thing regarding Williams is playing time, something that didn't deter the Bucs from drafting Braswell early in the draft a season ago. While he didn't get as much playing time as most would have liked to see, more than 30 percent of his tackles resulted in a loss.

Throughout his career at Georgia, Williams was named a Freshman All-American and led the team with 4.5 sacks during the team's National Championship run in 2022. After another strong showing his sophomore season, Williams once again produced in his final season with the Bulldogs, earning second-team All-SEC honors with 8.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, and a pass breakup.

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