What are NFL teams saying about Georgia first round trio?

Georgia players were among the key storylines on the first night of the NFL Draft. Three former Georgia players were drafted in the first round of the draft on Thursday night.

Defensive end Mykel Williams went 11th overall to the San Francisco 49ers. Linebacker Jalon Walker went 15th overall to the Atlanta Falcons. Safety Malaki Starks was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens at pick number 27 overall.

Those three franchises had the chance to speak on what they were getting in the three former Bulldogs. There was a lot of praise of the individuals, but also a peek into the culture headed up by Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.

John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan praise Georgia’s Mykel Williams

Both Lynch and Shananah took note of Williams’ ability to play through his ankle injury during the 2024 season as a major piece of the toughness he brings.

Williams hurt his ankle in the season opener against Clemson and was back on the field for Georgia for game four against Alabama.

“He played through an ankle injury last year and missed two games,” Lynch told reporters. “But high ankle sprains can be a tough deal. To only miss two games and play as well as he did, came through here on a 30-visit and really got a feel for the kid. I just think all of that led us to this guy is a Niner. He fits who we are, our culture.”

Williams’ maturity and leadership grabbed the 49ers’ attention. Lynch leaned on his relationship with Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, but he also knew quickly that he wanted Williams in San Francisco.

I think him being 20 years old, but having a maturity and a way about him when he came through here, we felt that,” Lynch said. “We felt his presence. They talk about it at Georgia and his leadership and all those things. And you could feel it. He’s just very comfortable in his own skin. That was impressive when you put it along together with the film…I am tight with Kirby. But pretty soon and early in this process, it was apparent that Mykel was a guy for us. We kind of laid low on that… This kid is impeccable. The Scouts did a tremendous job delivering the information. We saw everything we liked. And so sometimes it’s best just to let things lie, and we did.”

Jalon Walker, the person, draws praise in Atlanta

Falcons’ general manager Terry Fontenot was giddy at the mental makeup of Walker as they hit the podium on Thursday night. A lot has been made of his versatility on the field.

“He can play stack,” Fontenot told members of the Atlanta media. “He can play off the edge, he can rush inside and he can do so many different things. And again, an unbelievable person. He’s one of those guys that when you when you know who he is as a party key, he’s just one of those guys that won’t fail. He is one you love the makeup and love the character.”

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has already had some schematic talks with Walker. He took note of how ‘self-aware’ Walker is with his skillset.

“You know, being able to come off the edge, being able to move around, he’s very self-aware,” Morris said. “You ever talk to this young man, he’ll kind of tell you what he thinks he is. He’s 30 percent off the edge, he’s 30 percent blitzing through a gap. He can do some different things in the back end. He can drop, he can do all kinds of different things. So, like, he’s definitely a threat, and he definitely provides a threat for us that would allow us to utilize him in the most captivating ways. We’ve got a lot of coaches up there that are just gunning to use him and gunning to find different ways to get it done.”

Malaki Starks ‘passed every single test’ for Baltimore

The Ravens have had greats on every level of their defense. Their general manager Eric DeCosta, felt Starks checked a lot of the boxes they look for in looking for big-time defensive stars in their organization.

“I just think that as we go back and look at our very best players, they’re just wired a certain way, they play a certain way consistently and throughout the process, Malaki was a guy that just really passed every single test,” DeCosta told reporters. “He, we have, you know, as far as football GPA, very, very high, production as a player, durability, ability, everything really . It just made a lot of sense for us to take him.”

The Ravens look to tap into the Starks’ versatility.

He plays bowl safety, he plays nickel, he plays the dime linebacker spot, which is what Kyle does, which is what Adarius does, and then Marlon plays inside and outside,” Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh said. “So the ability to move all those pieces around and get them in different positions is pretty exciting.”