Kirby Smart sounds off on sack stats, Georgia defensive line

ATHENS, Ga. — Kirby Smart has heard it before, and he’ll probably hear it again at some point soon: Georgia defenders don’t put up stats. It’s a notion that in many cases isn’t all too wrong. Because the Bulldogs rotate so much to keep fresh legs on the field, you haven’t seen but one player (Roquan Smith – 2017) top 100 tackles in a season, something done six times in the four seasons prior to Smart’s arrival.

When it comes to sacks, the critics might be even louder. No Georgia player has had nine sacks in a single season under Smart – although Azeez Ojulari likely would have gotten there in 2020 (8.5) had the season not been shortened due to COVID. Smart’s response to that? Look at the next level.

“Well, we usually fix that when we show them how many have been drafted. Then it’s silenced, ” Smart said, asked whether it’s something that comes up in recruiting battles as a concern. “We put Travon (Walker)’s sacks up there and say he went number one overall. We put Devonte (Wyatt)’s up there and say he went first round. We put Quay (Walker)’s up there, we put Nolan (Smith)’s up there, we put Jordan Davis’ up there and then they don’t say anything.”

Mic drop. While it was the last question of his post-practice press conference on Tuesday, Smart used it as an opportunity to make a statement: Georgia doesn’t need stats to support their case as college football’s premier program for defenders, the NFL Draft track record does that.

This year, the Bulldogs once again have former five-stars looking to make an impact up front. Defensive end Mykel Williams, On3’s top defensive lineman Class of 2022 and the sixth best player in the country overall according to the Industry Ranking, came up with his first sack of the season on Saturday in Georgia’s 48-7 season opening win over UT-Martin. It was the team’s only sack against a pass attack that made an effort to get the ball out quickly, but also accomplished a goal of Williams’ to get a sack in every game.

While Williams knows the pass rush attack is a team effort, if he were to do that – and Georgia was to play the 15 games it has the last two seasons having been in the National Championship each year – he’d break the program’s single season record. Jarvis Jones, who went on to be a first-round, had 14.5 in 2012. It came just one season after he had 13.5 – just shy of David Pollack‘s program record at the time of 14.0 in 2002.

With Jones and Pollack, we’re talking about a pair of first round picks. Williams has been compared to a more recent first rounder though, the top overall pick in 2022 Travon Walker.

“It feels great with how he went and how he projected and how he’s doing in the NFL. That’s a great comparison, but, you know, I’m me and he’s him. We’re two different players and we’re going down two different paths,” Williams said.

“I do use it as motivation, but I really don’t look into it. Like, I have high expectations for myself — like, way higher than any of those. It’s really for me. I do this for me.”

Smart has seen that too. Going into his sophomore season – even after being forced to miss the majority of spring practice and summer workouts – Williams is continuing to grow into a more polished product by the day.

“Maturity. He carries himself well,” Smart said. “He’s a leader, he’s very mature. Practices hard, plays hard, he’s what you want a football player to be. 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.”

Another former five-star, On3’s No. 13 overall player and the nation’s fourth-best defensive lineman according to the Industry Ranking, Jordan Hall was in there on Saturday beside Williams on the third-down pass rush unit. Seeing the field this early in his career, it’s clear that Georgia views Hall as somebody who has the potential to make a major impact during his time in Athens.

“His work ethic and how violent he is with his hands and how he rushes. Like, he’s a great player and he’s going to be real impactful for us this year,” Williams said.

“He comes in each day to learn more and more that he can,” super-senior defensive lineman Tramel Walthour added. “He’s going to go out on the field and give it everything he can. You can just put him out there and he’ll give you 100 percent effort every play.”

As for whether Georgia needs Hall to be that kind of player in 2023, that remains to be seen. Smart has been vocal about the fact that he doesn’t see a player as disruptive as those that have come through as of late – Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt, Travon Walker, etc. Still, that’s not stopping him from wanting someone to emerge into that role.

“Need or want? You always want a really disruptive, violent, quick, twitchy player. Everybody wants that and you need both. You need someone that can do that. You need someone that can anchor and handle double-teams and strike blocks. We have guys that can be disruptive, but we just don’t know if they can consistently do it and stop the run as well without guessing sometimes,” Smart said. “Our defensive linemen are perfectly capable, there’s just not that kind of guy. Even when Jordan and Devonte were here, they were not that kind of guy either. They were big physical guys. Devonte was twitchy and quick, but he was not what Jordan was. Jordan was a very unique player in terms of stopping up two gaps and not necessarily being an elite pass rusher. I’m very comfortable with the guys we’ve got and very comfortable with what Jordan (Hall) is doing in being able to help us. We’re going to keep bringing those guys along so that we have more of those guys than anybody in the country.”

Georgia takes on Ball State in its second game of the season this weekend. The Cardinals allowed three sacks and eight total tackles for loss in their season-opener this past week against Kentucky. Kickoff time from Sanford Stadium on Saturday is set for 12:00 p.m. ET on SEC Network.