The San Francisco 49ers selected Mykel Williams with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but his rookie campaign was cut short after nine games due to a torn ACL.
In limited action, Williams recorded one sack, 20 total tackles (four for loss), three quarterback hits, and one fumble recovery, per Pro Football Reference. While the defensive lineman still has the potential to develop into a key contributor along the 49ers' defensive front, his early production left room for debate about the pick's long-term impact.
That uncertainty is reflected in The Athletic analyst Nick Baumgardner's 2025 NFL re-draft, where San Francisco takes a different approach at No. 11 overall.
In Baumgardner's reimagining, the 49ers select Travis Hunter, a dynamic two-way talent who entered the league after the Jacksonville Jaguars made him the No. 2 overall pick. Hunter's versatility carried over to the NFL, where he logged 324 offensive snaps and 162 defensive snaps before a knee injury shortened his rookie season.
The Jaguars made an effort to immediately utilize Hunter at both wide receiver and in the secondary, an approach which Baumgardner questioned.
"I'm certainly not out on Hunter, though I don't love how the Jaguars deployed him last year," Baumgardner wrote. "He needs to get comfortable on one side of the ball first and add more from there. One step at a time."
Hunter finished his first NFL season with 28 receptions for 298 yards and one touchdown across seven games (four starts). Defensively, he added 15 tackles and three passes defensed.
Notably, in this re-draft scenario, Williams falls out of the first round entirely.
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