With five games left in the regular season, Georgia's edge rushers are starting to hunt.
The results are beginning to show.
In 14 games in 2023, the trio of Jalon Walker, Mykel Williams, and Damon Wilson accounted for 10 of Georgia’s 30 sacks.
Through seven games this fall, that number is already at 9.5.
Jalon Walker leads the way with 4.5 after his three-sack effort against Texas. Still, Georgia’s edge rushers are set to blow past last season’s totals because five Bulldog edge rushers already have accounted for sacks of their own.
Williams – who collected two against the Longhorns – now sits at three, while Chaz Chambliss, Wilson, and Gabe Harris have chipped in with one each.
The quintet has also accounted for 17 tackles for loss and 64 quarterback hurries, led by Walker with 24 and Wilson with 18.
“We’ve seen Damon increase his role from last year, and he’s continuing to get better,” head coach Kirby Smart said when asked about the sophomore trio of Wilson, Harris, and Sam M’Pemba, the last of which has yet to find consistent playing time.
“All three of those guys are similar in the fact they play the same position. They're different in their makeup and their kind of their strengths. Each one has gotten better. I think Chidera's (Uzo-Diribe) done a great job developing those guys,” Smart said. “Gabe (Harris) has given us solid snaps at some positions that we've struggled with, and we've had some injuries at the position that Gabe's been asking to play (defensive end and outside linebacker).”
As for M’Pemba, he’s still under a learning curve after playing primarily offense and inside linebacker during his high school career.
"Sam's continuing to develop,” Smart said. “He probably had the furthest to go from a standpoint of he'd been an offensive player some of his high school career and was really just starting to play more and more on defense, but I'm pleased with all three of those guys.”
Fortunately for M’Pemba, there’s still time for him to hone his craft. Especially with the production the Bulldogs are beginning to see from Wilson, who is starting to see more action than just in Georgia’s third-down packages.
“Damon’s a great athlete and a super good pass rusher. He’s finally getting some of his shine and he deserves it,” guard Dylan Fairchild said. “Even last year as a freshman, he’s rushing speed to power on people and it’s working. That was as a freshman, so I’m excited for his future. It’s only going to go up for him.”
The healthier Williams becomes, the better this group will get, too.
“Mykel's still not full. He wasn't last week in terms of full strength and all the way back. I want to be clear on that. I think people look at the output against Texas and think he didn't play a lot of snaps. He didn't play, probably, the 100 percent role that he was playing against Clemson,” Smart said. “We think he's going to be much better this week. We did a lot of rehab with him last week, but I don't know where he is. What does he allow us to do? He gives us depth. He makes everybody else better around him. He's certainly a hard player to block. He plays the run and pass well, so I'm happy to have him back. I just hope that he is 100 percent.”
If so, opposing quarterbacks better watch out.
“With his talent, his size, his speed. You can put him in an A gap, you can stunt him off the edge. He’s just a versatile player,” Chambliss said. “You can put him anywhere and he affects the game when he’s in.”
