Who Will Become the New Alpha in Alabama's Wolf Linebacker Pack?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When the alpha wolf leaves a pack, it is often difficult for a new leader to emerge.

Alabama wolf linebackers Qua Russaw and Jah-Marien Latham will be away from the Crimson Tide's field for a while. Russaw broke his foot against Georgia this past Saturday and will miss an extended period of time, while Latham is out for the season following a neck injury he sustained last week during practice.

Russaw and Latham were listed as co-starters on the Crimson Tide's Week 1 depth chart, and they each made an impact prior to their respective injuries. Russaw had four total tackles, including one for loss, and a sack. Latham had two tackles against Florida State before missing the next two games with a lower-body injury.

With Russaw and Latham out, redshirt sophomore Yhonzae Pierre is next in line to be the alpha Wolf linebacker with true freshman Justin Hill right behind. Pierre performed well on Saturday in the win over the Bulldogs when his role increased after Russaw's injury, finishing with four total tackles. Hill also received a good chunk of snaps, and his efforts didn't reflect his zero tackles on the stat sheet.

"I'm very proud of Yhonzae Pierre and Justin Hill," Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said during Monday's press conference. "It's a lot to ask for a true freshman to come in and compete, especially in a road SEC game. He had been getting a lot of reps in practice, but certainly, we did not anticipate him playing 23 or 24 snaps in the game and he did a really good job there of going in. He was very physical at the point of attack, made some huge block-destruction plays on their tight ends, who I think Georgia has a very good tight end corp.

"And so, I'm pleased with him, pleased with Pierre. I talked about him in the offseason, he just keeps getting better and better. His ability to affect the run game and generate some pass rush for us has shown up so far this season ... I think Yhonzae Pierre has consistently gotten better as a pass-rusher. That's one area that we need. I'm excited about some of the things that he gives us from a pass-rush standpoint.

“But we’re going to have to be creative in the way we develop other people in certain packages to make sure we have enough depth. That’s certainly the name of the game, right? It's how you handle your personnel each week to be able to create as much depth as you can for the next week's opponent. Certainly, when you lose two experienced players like we did, that’s a challenge.”

Of course, Pierre and Hill are not Alabama's only pass-rushers. Wommack mentioned a couple of other defensive players who have made a ton of progress throughout the young season in reaching the backfield.

"I think LT Overton, from where he was a year ago in generating quarterback hurries to being able to finish in the backfield, not only on the quarterback, but he's also finished in the backfield on a number of run plays as well," Wommack said. "Those are areas that I think that we are improving as a defense.

"The other guy that I'll tell you is Deontae Lawson. He was doing a really good job as a pass-rusher. We're doing some things with him that we did with Jihaad Campbell a year ago. He's generating some pass rush, so, give D-Law a little love there."

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