Linebacker Yhonzae Pierre Continues to "Elevate"

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Last season, Yhonzae Pierre was projected third on Alabama's depth chart behind Qua Russaw and Jah-Marien Latham on opening day, with the then-redshirt sophomore seeing a limited role for the Crimson Tide.

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By the middle of the season, Pierre had elevated to a starting role in Kane Wommack's defense and made it impossible to pull him off the field, finishing the season with 15 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 8.0 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 pass breakup. Pierre was named SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week against Tennessee, finishing that night against the Vols with a career-high 6 tackles and 3 sacks.

Pierre flirted with declaring for the NFL draft, where the New York Times' Dane Brugler wrote that he could've been a top-40 pick. Instead, Pierre returned to Alabama for a senior season, with defensive coordinator Kane Wommack saying he's elevated his game even more after a breakout year last season.

"I think Yhonzae has just continued to take steps in the right direction. I mean, here's a guy at the beginning of the season where he played a role for us, but his role continued to increase and grow," Wommack told reporters on Tuesday. "I've made no bones about it: we haven't had probably the pass rush that we would like over the first two years, but Yhonzae started putting us in a position to where we could do some more things on the back half of last season, and I think that he's continued to elevate his craft. Right now, he's got a lot of confidence when he comes off the edge. You can see it in his movement, his anticipation, and those things got to translate to game day, but certainly excited about his trajectory.”

Alabama will return to the practice field on Wednesday, August 12. The Crimson Tide's first scrimmage will be this Thursday, August 13. The first game of the season is scheduled for Saturday, September 5 against East Carolina.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.