Rowe: Why not Mykel Williams as Georgia’s next disruptor?

The amount of defensive line and front-seven talent that has flowed through Georgia in recent years is truly remarkable. When you combined the defensive line, inside linebacker, and outside linebacker, UGA has had six players go in the first round of the past two NFL Drafts. It’s not hard to figure out why the Bulldogs have been College Football’s gold standard the past two seasons, especially on defense.

But for the first time in a few years, Kirby Smart, and co-defensive coordinators Glenn Schumann and Will Muschamp are looking for their look-to disruptor. Jalen Carter, who either missed or was limited in several games last season, is no longer around. Nolan Smith, who missed the second half of last season, is also gone.

Georgia needs to find the guy who can blow up the opposing team’s game plan. They need to identify the dude who gets talked about in opposing coaches’ meetings all season long. That guy can be and probably should be Mykel Williams. I get the sense that, at least to an extent, Kirby Smart agrees.

“Practices hard, plays hard, he’s what you want a football player to be,” Smart said of Williams on Tuesday. “He’s tough, physical, does what you ask and he really handles coaching well. For a guy as talented as he is, he doesn’t think he has all the answers. I’m very pleased with where he is and we have to find a way to keep him healthy.”

I know what you’re going to say next. “Yeah, but he plays defensive end and Carter played inside.” Let’s look back at the defenses Smart has coached, ones before he arrived at Georgia. Remember Jonathan Allen at Alabama? He had 14.5 tackles for loss in Smart’s last season in Tuscaloosa. He tallied 16 tackles for loss a year later in pretty much the same scheme.

While coordinating the Crimson Tide defense, Smart’s biggest disruptors and TFL guys tended to be outside or inside linebackers. That was the case the vast majority of the time. It has been the case more often than not at Georgia but interior guys have had a chance to eat, too. Trent Thompson was that guy in 2016, Smart’s first season. It was Tyler Clark in 2019 and last year it was Carter, at least in terms of tackles for loss per game.

We’ve seen inside linebackers lead the way a couple of times — Roquan Smith (2017) and Nakobe Dean (2021). Outside linebackers were the havoc creators in 2018 and 2020 with D’Andre Walker and Azeez Ojulari, respectively, holding it down.

So what’s the point, you might ask? The point is that Georgia has fielded highly effective, even elite-like defenses without a generational talent on the defensive interior. The best of the best UGA defenses under Kirby Smart have been led by tremendously talented interior defensive linemen and time will tell whether guys like Nazir Stackhouse, Warren Brinson, Zion Logue, Christen Miller, and Jordan Hall can be that.

But for now, Williams has what it takes. At 6-foot-5 270 pounds, Williams is a tough man to block. Just ask former Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. who Williams bullied for a sack in last year’s Peach Bowl. Some say it was the only sack Johnson gave up all year before getting picked No. 6 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

Williams is also relentless when it comes to his effort while possessing the length and twitch over which defensive line coaches at all level tend to drool. The DawgsHQ Dawg Walk Forum gives me the unique ability to see the questions and concerns of the most informed and fervent Georgia fans every day. They wonder who will pick up the slack left by Carter.

Let Williams cook.

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