Georgia football: who is Mekhail Sherman, D.C.’s best prospect

Some say the middle or “will” linebacker position is the most important on defense. Georgia football has their sites set on an elite WLB for 2020.

Two years ago, Roquan Smith became a Georgia football legend. He wasn’t just a prototypical will linebacker, he went above that to become one of the best to ever play the position. But he left big shoes to fill. Monty Rice has filled that position admirably and is expected to be even better this year.

But what about the future? Right now Georgia is all in on Washington D.C.’s Mehkail Sherman. The St. John’s College High School prospect is touted as the second best outside linebacker in the nation according to 247Sports Composite and third among all linebackers. Overall, he’s No. 13 in the composite rankings and a unanimous five-star prospect.

All of those rankings are nice, but is he really the next Roquan Smith? Can head coach Kirby Smart really take the best player in our nation’s capital? And just who is Mehkail Sherman?

He plays as a typical outside, edge rushing linebacker in St. John’s defense. He’s an excellent edge rusher and run stopper from the position. If he can’t make the tackle, he’s at least contained the ball carrier to an area where someone else will.

What does that have to do with the Roquan Smith comparison’s? Smith was also listed as an outside linebacker prospect, he ranked No. 5 among OLB’s in the 2015 class. Like Smith in high school, Sherman does much more than just rush off the edge. He’ll line up in the second level occasionally and that’s where the Smith comparison, or the comparisons to other great will linebackers really begin.

He’s a sideline-to-sideline defender capable of stopping running backs, mobile quarterbacks and passes. Even at the high school level, where the option and offense based on disguising the ball carrier are in abundance, he still makes the play.

Of course, tackling is the most important part and that doesn’t seem to be an issue for Sherman. As long as he can grab a ball carrier, even by just a few fingers, he can make the stop. He’s so powerful, even with just one out-stretched arm. He earns his fifth star. But he’s coming off an ACL injury which kept him out of action for much of 2019.

Sherman still being ranked No. 13 tells me his injury was only an ACL tear and nothing else on the knee was harmed. If so, Sherman is already an SEC-ready player who’ll certainly play early and often at Georgia. The 247Sports Crystal Ball has Sherman going to Ohio State. But that’s based on three votes, and the voter with the most accuracy (Steve Wiltfong – 90.57-percent) has Sherman heading to Athens.