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Mykel Williams speaks to the media during the 2025 NFL Combine on February 26, 2025.
The San Francisco 49ers will have a new look defensive line in 2025, and fans are eager to see them take the field.
Perhaps the biggest, and most recent acquisition, for the 49ers on the defensive front was their trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for DE Bryce Huff. The duo of Huff and DE Nick Bosa will likely be among the most feared in the NFL in 2025.
But in an interview with @TheSFNiners, Huff told 49ers to keep an eye out for another defensive lineman: rookie DT Mykel Williams.
“He’s a unit, I’m not gonna lie to you,” Huff said. “I saw him training this morning and I said yeah, he’s gonna wreak some havoc in this front for sure.”
Huff also mentioned that Williams has been training with him and several others at the 49ers facility in the dead period between OTAs and training camp.
49ers fans should be ecstatic that they are hearing such effusive praise for Williams from a great veteran defensive lineman, and by the fact that Huff and others are working with Williams even when it’s not required of them to.
Huff Also Praised Robert Saleh’s System
In that same interview with @TheSFNiners, Huff passionately praised the defensive system of 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.
“I already saw the blueprint,” Huff said. “Being in New York with this scheme for three years, and seeing how they utilize each person’s body type to make them play their best, I already see how it’s about to go down this year.”
Huff played in Saleh’s scheme when Saleh was the Head Coach of the New York Jets from 2021-2023. Saleh was able to maximize Huff’s talent, helping him to the best season of his career in 2023 with 10 sacks.
Understandably, Huff also said that it feels like home to be back in the Wide 9 scheme.
The 49ers know full well the benefits of a Saleh scheme, given that he was their defensive coordinator once already from 2017-2020. During that time, Saleh built the 49ers defense into one of the best units in the NFL.
Experts Are Split on Mykel Williams
In an article released on Sunday June 29, 2025, NFL expert Brent Sobleski said that Williams is a first-round pick that could potentially disappoint the 49ers in 2025.
Sobleski thinks that Williams is raw, and won’t be a consistently effective NFL player for another few years.
“The 20-year-old will need time to hone his craft for a year or two before he becomes the pass-rusher that San Francisco hopes he can be,” Sobleski wrote.
But other outlets have identified Williams as a potential rookie of the year candidate. So no one seems to actually know what to expect from the 20-year old rookie.
The people that are around Williams every day are likely more credible than outside observers. That is what excites 49ers fans about Huff’s comments.
So what do you think, 49ers fans? Will Mykel Williams be a star in his first season with the 49ers, or will he need several years before he can become an impact player?
Ethan Inman is a sports journalist covering the San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders for heavy.com. He also co-hosts a college football podcast for The Voice of College Football, and writes about the NBA and MLB. He has previously covered the USC Trojans, the NHL, college baseball, and the intersection of sports and popular culture for other publications. He is based in the greater Los Angeles area. More about Ethan Inman
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