With Mykel Williams being groomed to play more of a standout role as an outside linebacker, there’s room at defensive end for other players to fill the void.

Sophomore Gabe Harris could be one of those players.

With Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins missing the spring as he recovers from foot surgery, Harris saw extensive time at defensive end for the Bulldogs.

It’s not as if the position is new to him.

After coming in a year ago as an outside linebacker with Sam M’Pemba and Damon Wilson, depth issues at defensive end led to Kirby Smart and his defensive coaches moving the Thomasville native inside.

Saturday’s performance at G-Day was another example of his potential. Harris made three tackles, including one for a loss.

“Man, I thought he had a good day today,” Smart said. “I can’t say his whole spring was like that, but he was disruptive (Saturday).”

This wasn’t the first time Harris displayed a penchant for making disruptive plays.

In Georgia’s 63-3 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl, Harris also collected a tackle for loss, but forced a fumble that contributed to Georgia’s effort on defense against the Seminoles.

“He’s catching on,” Williams said of Harris. “He’s going to be a very good player.”

Smart sees the 6-foot-4, 250-pound sophomore as having some natural ability to play down low.

“He’s twitchy, he’s hard to block,” Smart said. “I love the way he plays.”

However, Smart is quick to remind listeners there’s still plenty of work to do.

“He sometimes plays out of control, which can be a good thing, and it was good today on some plays,” Smart said. “But also, the first play of the game he screwed up, went the wrong way, and didn’t line up right.”

Fortunately, those are coachable mistakes.

As long as Harris continues to give the effort he has, production should not be a problem.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you’re getting with Gabe,” Smart said. “But you do get great effort and you do get great toughness. I love that.”