The San Francisco 49ers drafted a 20-year-old in the 2025 NFL Draft. The thought was that \Mykel Williams would grow into a role that mirrored Arik Armstead. Williams was not a unanimous choice among fans.

I was in the camp that would have selected Walter Nolen, who had two serious injuries as a rookie, including a non-contact knee injury toward the end of the season.

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Some wanted Tyler Warren, others were sold on Jalon Walker. In hindsight, Grey Zabel would have solidified the offensive line. There weren’t any wrong answers. Even today, there still probably aren’t. Mykel could ascend into a star. Victory laps after a rookie year usually look foolish after the second season plays out. See Brian Thomas and Ladd McConkey.

Anyway, ESPN did a 2025 redraft of the first two rounds. Here’s how the top 10 picks went:

Patriots – Will Campbell

Jaguars – Travis Hunter

Raiders – Armand Membou

Panthers – Tetairoa McMillian

Saints – Kelvin Banks Jr.

Bears – Colston Loveland

Spoiler: Mykel Williams falls out of the first round. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner took a wide receiver:

New pick: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State

The 49ers had strong interest in McMillan around the draft, but he was off the board. And though Williams showed promise, Egbuka would have helped stabilize a position that has a lot of question marks. Although Egbuka’s fast start turned into a slow finish, he’d be the best and most proven wideout under contract for the Niners right now

Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Ricky Pearsall were atop the wide receiver leaderboard for the first month of the season. Egbuka would have been an interesting pick, but his production fell off a cliff in the second half. In this hypothetical, Zabel to solidify left guard, Mason Graham at defensive tackle, or Malaki Starks at safety.

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In this exercise, the Rams took Upton Stout 26th overall. Mykel went 38th overall to the Patriots, while the Niners stuck with Alfred Collins at 43.

Looking back, do you think the 49ers would trust their process and stick with Williams and Collins? Scroll below and let us know in the comments.