SANTA CLARA – Mykel Williams was “about to get comfortable and hit my stride” in his rookie season. Then came a fateful step.
The anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee snapped, with a mere four minutes left in a 10-point win over the New York Giants on Nov. 2
That was the last the 49ers saw from their 2025 first-round draft pick, further weakening a pass rush that lost Nick Bosa to his own ACL tear in the 49ers’ Sept. 21 home opener.
It wasn’t surprising the 49ers finished with a league-low 20 sacks. But the 49ers kept on winning, through the NFC playoffs’ wild-card round and up until Saturday’s 41-6 blowout loss at Seattle.
“It would have been nice to be a part of it,” Williams said of the 49ers’ last-season triumphs and tribulations.
Robert Saleh won’t be part of next season’s efforts. He’s leaving his second stint as 49ers defensive coordinator for a five-year deal as the Tennessee Titans’ coach, his agent, Doug Hendrickson, confirmed Monday night.
Still, upgrading the pass rush is annually a priority in the 49ers’ offseason, and it could be atop this spring’s agenda to bolster Saleh’s replacement.
“We have to be better there and we understand that,” general manager John Lynch said. “That’s always been at the forefront of our philosophy, to make life miserable on opposing quarterbacks and to wreak havoc.”
Bosa and Williams, the early-season starters, will rejoin a cast of defensive ends that’s only assured of returning 2025 trade acquisitions Bryce Huff and Keion White.
“I feel next year we’ll have all the guys back, full squad, full rush package. I think it’ll be a great year,” Huff told the Bay Area News Group. “We need the guys to come back healthy and it will be a full-fledged season.”
They’ll need more than that foursome, especially as insurance if they slow play Bosa’s and Williams’ ACL comebacks.
Yetur Gross-Matos and Clelin Ferrell are headed back into free agency, as could be Sam Okuayinonu and Robert Beal Jr., both of whom are restricted free agents.
Ferrell and Huff each had four sacks to lead the 49ers’ paltry totals. Okuayinonu had three, Bosa two, White 1 ½ and Williams one.
All of Huff’s sacks came in the first seven games. Then came a hamstring injury that may have sidelined him two games but it didn’t cause his ensuing 10-game sack drought.
“No. When I was out, the biggest change when I got back was Mykel being out,” Huff said. “That stung, for sure.”
Williams wasn’t an elite pass rusher, not yet anyhow. But he certainly was a big-talent threat and an emerging prospect whose interior versatility is coveted in the 49ers’ system.
Williams said he “should be” coming back by training camp, but he also has a meniscus tear to overcome. The past couple of months have been hard.
“Not really being healthy and not being healthy to play, it really got to me a couple of times,” Williams said. “Staying home, watching the game, I’ll see something that happened where I could have made an impact. That’s how the game (goes) sometimes and I just want to be out there.”
Williams looks forward to improving his pad level, technique, hand placement, and footwork. Bosa gave him tips on all that through the offseason and training camp. Then came their ACL recoveries.
“Bosa has been extremely helpful. He’s like a real big brother,” Williams said. “He’ll come in, check on me, sit down with me, eat lunch with me, talk to me about my knee, how I’m feeling and where I’m at with the process.”
Bosa hasn’t spoken to the media since his ACL tear, but he has been around the 49ers’ facility in recent months.
As the 49ers cleared out their lockers – making room for the NFC entrant in Super Bowl LX, either the Seahawks or Rams – Huff said he didn’t plan to stray long.
“I’m going to get right back to work,” Huff said. “I don’t plan on taking too much time off.”
White will head to his offseason home in Atlanta but be back here for his first spring workouts in two months. His late sack of Jalen Hurts helped preserve the 49ers’ wild-card victory at Philadelphia.
White’s 2026 goal: “Just being better than I was. It’s a big year for me.”
A 2023 second-round pick by the New England Patriots, White’s rookie contract will expire after next season. The 49ers acquired him Oct. 28 for a simple swapping of sixth-round picks.
White fits the 49ers’ profile of a versatile defensive end, and he said of their playoff push: “It was cool. I’m just trying to find my way again, getting another opportunity. So I’ve been rocking with it.”
