Malaki Starks, Mykel Williams earn FWAA Freshman All-American
Georgia freshmen Malaki Starks and Mykel Williams were named to the Freshman All-American teams announced by the Football Writers Association of America on Thursday. The Bulldogs were one of just three pairs of players to be included from the same school on this year’s 32-man team, and their selection gives Georgia 28 Freshman All-Americans since 2003.
Starks started 14 of 15 games for Georgia this season on its way to a second straight National Championship, and the only game he didn’t – Oregon – was one of his most impressive during his first year on campus. Starks came down with an interception on the second drive of the game and helped set the tone in a 49-3 Bulldog victory. Overall on the season, he had 68 tackles – good for third-best on the team – with a pair of interceptions, tied for second-best among all Bulldogs.
“It’s been tremendous. Take Day 1 of spring. There was a lot of first for him. Think about it, at Jefferson he was an option quarterback, he played defensive back – that’s 50-50. So, a lot of the things we talk about like leveraging the ball, back-peddling, leveraging the receiver, body control … there were a lot of first involved,” Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said about Starks. “That was not in his DNA. Now, his DNA is really good, so he overcomes coaching a good bit, too (joking). But he’s a really talented guy who has tremendous ball skills down the field, as good offensive players do. He can finish on the ball like he did against Oregon. He’s a guy who exceptionally coachable and extremely humble, and it’s really important to him. He takes coaching very well. He understands it; he understands what he has to do to get better. He improved from Day 1 in the spring and coming out of the summer was huge for him. I told him we’ve got to make tremendous strides this summer; and I said a lot of this has got to be on you by NCAA rules because I can’t be with you as much as I need to be. He understood that and made tremendous strides in mini camp and he’s grown each week. He’s had some tremendous situations, and he’s had some tough moments, a couple of tough plays. But he’s grown from them all and that’s all you can ask for.”
As for Williams, he started just two of the 15 games but had about as big of an impact on the defensive line as anybody. In Georgia’s final five games, Williams had 4.5 tackles for loss including sacks each each of the College Football Playoff games. He totaled 28 tackles with 6.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks, hurrying the quarterback 30 times for an average of twice per game.
“Well, I think the closer your position moves to the ball as a young player, the harder it is for you to play. If you’re a defensive back, a lot of times your instincts can take over. You can be able to read and locate a receiver, play man-to-man, have zone instincts, whatever the case may be. That’s kind of inbred with what you do. But playing close to the ball like Mykel’s doing, it’s very difficult because it’s a faster game, it’s bigger bodies, it’s more complex, everybody’s at least as big or stronger than you are, and so it’s very hard for a young player to do what Mykel’s doing,” Muschamp added on Williams. “He’s also — he’s played on the edge for us. He’s also played inside for us a lot and rushed for us. But tremendous future as a player, a guy that’s got huge upside. Again, very humble, very coachable, takes coaching very well, understands those things you’ve got to do in order to be successful.
Starks and Williams will be a big part of Georgia’s defensive plans next season. With the likes of Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Robert Beal, Kelee Ringo and Christopher Smith off to the NFL, guys like Starks, Williams and other young contributors will have to continue to step up. Jalon Walker and Bear Alexander, both of whom are also freshmen, had sacks in the National Championship Game. Marvin Jones Jr., a former five-star, and Daylen Everette are expected to compete for starting positions at outside linebacker and cornerback respectively. So, while Starks and Williams were the two from the Class of 2022 to make major impacts this year, the defense should have several faces from the group on the field next fall.
