Mykel Williams shares how he’s grown mentally ahead of 2023 season
In 2022, Georgia Bulldogs defensive lineman Mykel Williams broke onto the scene as one of the best young players in the country. Now, in 2023, Williams is looking to take another leap forward and become one of the next great Georgia defensive linemen.
To help improve, Williams has been focused on growing the mental side of his game.
“I feel like, mentally, is the aspect of me that like has grown a lot,” Mykel Williams said. “Because I can do the stuff physically. So, I’ve just been taking notes and watching and learning tendencies and talking with the o-line coaches.”
This spring, Mykel Williams unfortunately needed surgery. This has limited him in terms of how much he can practice and be out there physically. However, it has opened up the opportunity for him to grow more and more mentally.
“I really feel like I’ve grown the most in, like, my anticipation of plays. The way Coach [Tray] Scott teaches us and develops us, you kind of know what’s going on before the ball is snapped,” Williams said. “Now with me being out [in the spring] and I’ve just been sitting and watching and viewing different people, I can hear a call the o-line makes and I know which way they’re moving. It’s like my anticipation of the game has gotten better.”
Mykel Williams was a five-star recruit and the second-ranked defensive lineman in the 2022 cycle. As a freshman, he played in all 15 games, recording 28 total tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks. Heading into the 2023 season, he was named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team at SEC Media Days.
Explaining why Mykel Williams will break out in 2023
Heading into the 2023 season, On3’s JD PicKell is expecting Mykell Williams to break out for Georgia, as he explained on The Hard Count.
“Mykel Williams is 6’5, 265 pounds. He looks like Optimus Prime on the defensive line for Georgia. He was the No. 2 overall player for us here at On3 in that 2022 cycle, had a very real case to be the No. 1 player. He’s a dude that got on the field for Georgia as a true freshman. Y’all, to be on the defensive line as a true freshman, your first year on campus, and play for Georgia? That speaks volumes to this kid’s ability, to his maturity, to his acumen to digest that scheme. And he’s such a freak show that he’s everything that you’d want if you were to build an ideal edge defender. He’s twitched up, great size,” PicKell said.
“The thing with him? The reason why he’s going to break out this coming season, apart from his ability and all that he has physically? It is going to be virtually impossible to consistently double-team him. Like, if he shows up and starts wrecking shop? If you want to commit extra blockers to him? Like, you can do that if you want. But then guess what? Nazir Stackhouse? He gets to eat? The rest of that defensive line? They get to eat greedy.”