Justin Williams is an optimist. The junior Georgia linebacker almost always has a smile on his face, as was evident while Williams was helping out at a back-to-school event at an Athens Boys and Girls Club this past Friday.
As much as Williams enjoys helping out in the community, he believes the Georgia linebacker room is going to give fans plenty of reasons to smile this fall.
“It’s going to be great to see what we can do and what we can put together. I feel like it’s gonna be a lot of excitement from that room,” Williams told Dawgnation at a community event on Friday. “ … We’re doing something special, doing everything we’re supposed to do, and hopefully we can live up to that and just live up to our own the way we see ourselves, and let’s go have fun.”
Williams looks to become an every-down contributor this year, as he played behind now-Indianapolis Colts CJ Allen last season. Williams will likely join Chris Cole — who led the team with 4.5 sacks — and Raylen Wilson at the top of a very talented inside linebacker group.
Wilson, who steps in as the unquestioned leader of the group, ranked second on the team in tackles (76) last year. He knows the storied history of this position group and knows ‘it means a lot’ to see this group mentioned in the same breath as the 2021 group that was led by Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker and Channing Tindall.
“Just to be in the same conversation with them is really a blessing and a good opportunity for us to show what we’re about this season,” Wilson added.
Whether that be Roquan Smith in 2017, Dean in 2021, or Jalon Walker in 2024, linebackers entering their third year at Georgia have often put together a complete-season campaign that won them the Butkus Award.
This season, the early candidates to emerge would be Wilson or Cole. The latter enters his junior season wanting to improve on his pass-rushing abilities, he said. Despite leading the team in sacks last season, Cole feels that there is another gear for him to reach.
“I feel like I just left a lot on the table, which now I’ve learned from it and I’ve watched film on it,” Cole said. “But this year, I just want to come for it all and to be the best version of myself.”
While there’s a lot to like at the top of the depth chart, don’t overlook what some of the younger players on the roster can bring to the table. Sophomore Zayden Walker got some serious recognition from the veterans in the room.
“Man, Zay-Walk, he’s going to be a dog next year. That’s what people need to know,” Wilson said.
In only 10 games, Walker tallied six total tackles, including two sacks against Texas and in the SEC Championship game against Alabama.
“He’s great,” Williams added. “He can rush. He can do it. He can cover. He can do anything that he wants to do. That’s my dog.”
Walker did miss spring practice as he had offseason shoulder surgery. But he’s expected to be fully ready to go when the Bulldogs begin fall camp in early August.
With all this talent, the hope for Williams, Wilson and the rest of the Georgia inside linebacker room is that they can be smiling at the end of the season as they hope to lift the national championship trophy.
