Santa Clara – Stage 1 of the defensive restart of the 49ers finally arrived Thursday evening when their choice of first -round recovery brought the defensive winger Mykel Williams of Georgia.
Again, the first global step occurred earlier with the re -evolution of Robert Saleh as a defensive coordinator, after his departure in 2021 to become the coach of the New York Jets.
Now, Saleh, thanks to managing director John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan, obtains a major addition to a defensive front which was leveled by the alignment of the alignment of the offseason, which included the release of the defensive winger Leonard Floyd and the defensive plated Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins.
“Saleh is back in the Ladies and Gentlemen #trenches building,” said Jed York, owner of the 49ers
Williams celebrated his selection when he was surrounded by friends and family in an Atlanta house.
Only two defensive line players – Edge Rusher Abdul Carter, at No. 3 at the New York Giants; The defensive platform Mason Graham, n ° 5 at the Browns of Cleveland – went in the first 10 choices of the NFL recovery before the 49ers reach Williams at n ° 11.
Williams (6 feet 5 inches, 267 pounds) was not 21 years before June 29. He started 17 of the 40 games in three seasons in Georgia, the same state he was born (Warm Springs). He has never had more than five bags in a season in Georgia, but four of his bags came in two games against Texas last year to repeat with the honors of the second team.
“Due to its size, this guy can play on the edge but also on the tackle. He can be an interior rusher if he needs to be,” said the former coach of Alabama and NFL, Nick Saban, during the ESPN broadcast. “I like this choice. They need someone opposite (Nick) Bosa. “
This marks the seventh time in 11 years, the 49ers have put their first choice of draft on a defensive line player, the predecessors being Arik Armstead (2015), Deforest Buckner (2016), Solomon Thomas (2017), Nick Bosa (2019), Javon Kinlaw (2020) and Drake Jackson (2022).
The 49ers did not write a defensive end among the eight selections of last year, having rather supported the acquisitions of the free agency of Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos. Floyd started the 17 games but was released last month, and it brought the Gross-Matos into the probable departure place opposite Nick Bosa, at least before the draft on Thursday.
The 49ers were an annual hunt to find the perfect complement to Bosa. He made five pro-bols in six seasons and was the defensive player of the year of the AP NFL 2022, but he had only nine bags in 14 games last season.
A year ago, the 49ers came from a loss of Super Bowl, and they completed their reception corps with the 31st choice in total Ricky Pearsall. Miraculously, he would survive a shoot of the Labor Day and finished his recruited season, but the 49ers have lost another seven of their last eight games for a record of 6-11 and last place.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
