Super 11 Kwame ‘KJ’ Green Jr. Q&A: Boosting Stephenson’s elite edge legacy
The AJC Super 11 has recognized Georgia’s 11 best high school senior football players every year since 1985. Football legends like Charlie Ward, Travis Hunter and Eric Berry headline a distinguished legacy that continues in 2026.
Linebacker Kwame “KJ” Green Jr. is the sixth Super 11 selection from Stephenson, joining RB Kregg Lumpkin (2002), DB/WR Michael Grant (2003), LB Marcus Ball (2005), DL Jarontay Jones (2011) and DE Chauncey Rivers (2014).
Green finished his junior season with 129 tackles, 17 sacks, 39½ tackles for loss and AJC Class 3A Defensive Player of the Year honors. The 5-star LSU commitment answered 11 questions below ranging from extending Stephenson’s NFL legacy to his hidden talent.
How would you describe your play style, and what do you think opposing coaches see when they prepare to play you?
“Dominant and explosive, a lot of power. If I had to describe it, that’s what I would say on my scouting report. Plays level, not just a pass rusher. I feel like people overlook the pass rushing part. I feel like I’m a better run stopper than I am a pass rusher, honestly. I had 40 tackles for loss last year, so I’d definitely put on the scouting report, ‘Let’s close down the splits, and let’s double, maybe triple him,’ so I mean, a very aggressive play style. I feel like there’s not too much you can do. If you’re going to to run, you’re going to have to double. If you pass, then we might have to pass protect with seven.”
Which game on your schedule are you most looking forward to this year?
“The game that I’m most looking forward to is that state championship game. I know that’s not on the schedule just yet, but that’s what I’m looking forward to. It’s on my schedule most definitely, but for sure, I’d definitely say it’s that for first game of the season against Southwest DeKalb. We haven’t played Southwest DeKalb since my freshman year, and I feel like that’s been a rivalry since my mom was in school in 1998. I feel like it’s been a rivalry for a long time, and now I actually get to experience it for myself because I was hurt my freshman year and I didn’t get to experience that game. It’s one to look forward to, and I can’t wait for that one.”
What is your favorite high school football memory to date?
“I would say my breakout game. It was freshman year. It was crazy because I think the following week, I got hurt, but it was my breakout game. I want to say I had 3½ sacks. I think I had five tackles for loss. I had a blocked punt that we ended up scoring our first touchdown of the game on. I think it was, like, the second quarter and nobody was scoring, and I blocked a punt and we picked it up and scored. I had a safety, and like I said, it was freshman year and it was my fourth game of the season. That Saturday, I think I made Channel 2 Action News and Fox 5, so it was definitely great.”
What is your advice to younger players around the state that are starting to get recruited?
“I would say keep going. I feel like I wasn’t always put in the best position possible. I mean, I got hurt twice. Two broken hips, freshman year and sophomore year, and I feel like my mentality was just to keep going and keep pushing. I feel like God’s got a plan for everybody. It might not be how you want it, and it might not be when you want it, but you just keep going and you’re eventually going to get there. So just keep your head up and keep grinding.”
Who was the best player you ever played against and why?
“(Current Georgia Tech offensive tackle Xavier Canales). He was a dog. My 10th grade year, I think he held me to, like, four tackles. Off the top of my head, though, if I could give you a name, I would probably say (Georgia State commit) Justin Murphy, the quarterback from North Clayton. You watch the tape, and it’ll tell you for itself. I feel like he’s an electric player, and he does it all. I feel like he’s probably one of the best players I’ve ever played against.”
Who is the most underrated teammate or player in Georgia right now?
“The most underrated player right now in the state of Georgia is definitely our running back on the team, (Middle Tennessee commit) Jayden Johnson. I feel like he’s the best running back commit in the country. I feel like when you look at the stats and the situations he was put in, and you look at the yards per carry, I feel like he’s the best running back to do it in the Class of 2027.”
What coach has made the biggest impact in your life and why?
“(Stephenson defensive line coach Rockshawn McNeil). I feel like coach Rock pushed me to where I wanted to be. He always believed in me. He’s never going to tell anybody and he’s never going to show it, but everybody knows that he also believed in me since my seventh grade year. I wasn’t always the biggest athlete and I wasn’t the fastest athlete and I wasn’t the strongest athlete, but he always invested all his chips in me. We drove to Oklahoma, a 15-hour drive, so stuff like that can tell you the type of guy he is.”
What’s a line that one of your coaches says at least once a day at practice?
“The one from coach Rock is ‘just work.’ I feel like that’s mentality that always stuck with me, no matter if it was on the field or off the field. It’s ‘just work,’ no matter what you’re doing. That one, and I feel like (strength and conditioning coach Reggie Ball), he always says‚ ‘You don’t got to do it.’ That just sticks out to me. Looking back at it, I’d be like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got to do it.’”
Do you have a hidden talent or interest that has nothing to do with football?
“I’m a great a cook, and I think I’m a pretty solid golfer. (My best dish is) surf and turf. That’s the go-to, or lasagna if I’m feeling something quick. Not too hard, not too easy.”
There’s such an NFL legacy for Stephenson, but especially at your position. Have you met any of those guys?
“I’ve worked out with a couple of those guys. I’m still waiting to work out with (Chicago Bears defensive lineman Montez Sweat), but I’ve worked out with (NFL veteran Preston Smith) and (Detroit Lions defensive lineman D.J. Wonnum). Great guys. I feel like the knowledge they put in your head is just incredible. But I also tell those guys I feel like I’m better than them when they were in high school, but it’s always love between all of us. They taught me a lot of stuff and gave us a couple of essentials, a little apparel to wear on game days and stuff. Those guys are great humans.”
What’s been the hardest challenge of your high school years, and how has it shaped you?
“Consistency. I feel like consistency has been the word of my life. I feel like, especially in this part of Georgia, there’s not too many guys that can do what I do or compete or affect me or block me in a game, so I feel like just keeping that consistency part in my head that. All right, you’ve just got to keep going. There’s not always going to be guys that can compete with you. There’s not always going to be guys that are as good as you. There’s not always going to be guys that can sit there and push you, so you’ve got to push yourself. That consistency part, man. I feel like a lot of people come up to me at school and are like, ‘Man, I could be a 5-star if I came down to the field.’ But I always look at, like, yeah, you could come out there and do a workout or two, you could do a practice or two. But come that second week and that third week — and now you’ve got game days, and now you’ve got walk-throughs, and now you’ve got consistent practices every single day — I feel like that’s just the hardest part about everything for me. So learning to get that consistency part has really been my biggest thing, and I feel like without that consistency, you’re not going to get anywhere.”