Mykel DeAnthony Williams (born June 29, 2004) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

. In January 2022, he was named the Maxwell Football National High School Defensive Player of the Year. He was also rated by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

as the No. 4 recruit in college football's class of 2022.

Early years

Williams attended

Hardaway High School Hardaway High School is located in Columbus, Georgia, Columbus, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, in the Muscogee County School District. It is one of 221 schools in the state to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme ...

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

. After his senior season, he was named the Maxwell Football National High School Defensive Player of the Year.

Recruiting

Williams "received national attention" early in his high school football career. He was ranked by

as the No. 4 recruit in college football's class of 2022. 247Sports compared Williams to

Rashan Gary Rashan Abdul Gary (born December 3, 1997) is an American football outside linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). In 2015, he concluded his high school football career at Paramus Catholic High School in New J ...

, citing his "outstanding frame" and "elite length." He has also been compared to

Travon Walker Yury Travon Walker (; born December 18, 2000) is an American football outside linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, winning the 2022 National Championship with them ...

Nolan Smith Nolan Derek Smith (born July 25, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant men's basketball coach for the Louisville Cardinals. He played college basketball for Duke before being drafted 21st overa ...

calling Williams the spitting image of Walker.

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

rated him as the No. 8 recruit in the nation. ESPN rated him at No. 23 in its 2022 ESPN 300.

University of Georgia

Williams initially committed to

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, but flipped to Georgia in October 2021. He was the highest-rated recruit signed by defending national champion Georgia in the 2022 recruiting cycle. In July 2022, Georgia head coach

Kirby Smart Kirby Paul Smart (born December 23, 1975) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, his alma mater. He coached the 2021 Bulldogs to a national championship victory, their f ...

said of Williams: "The number one thing that stands out about Mykel is his work ethic. . . . I'm excited for him. . . . He's a great young man." As a true freshman in 2022, CBS Sports rated him as a "freshman to watch", and ESPN rated him as a preseason true freshman All-American. He played in Georgia's 2022 season opener against No. 11

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and registered two quarterback hurries. At the end of the season, he was named to

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

's PFF True Freshman All-America team.

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mykel Living people American football defensive ends Georgia Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) 2004 births