Alabama is riding high after a 24-21 win over Georgia in Athens on Saturday, but the injuries continue to mount on the defensive side of the ball. On Monday, Kalen DeBoer revealed that veteran linebacker Qua Russaw has a broken foot, and while “he won't be out for the season,” as DeBoer told reporters, “it will be an extended amount of time here.”
The Russaw injury comes on the heels of Jah-Marien Latham’s neck injury that he suffered in practice, which will also keep him out long-term. So, down his top two Wolf linebackers, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was forced to turn to a true freshman against the Bulldogs, and he’ll be in the spotlight going forward.
Justin Hill set to be featured in Wolf linebacker rotation with Yhonzae Pierre
Redshirt sophomore Yhonzae Pierre has emerged as a top edge rusher option at the Wolf spot in Latham and Russaw’s stead, leading the team with eight QB pressures this season. He can’t play all the snaps, though, and with depth being tested, true freshman Justin Hill was thrust into a major role on Saturday, playing 21 snaps, and Wommack was impressed with how he held up.
“It’s a lot to ask for a true freshman [Hill] 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, whatever it was, 23, 24 snaps in the game, and he did a really good job there going in,” Wommack told reporters on Monday.
With Pierre’s pass-rush prowess, Hill primarily played on run downs. Of his 21 snaps, Georgia ran the ball 16 times, and he rushed the passer just once, dropping into coverage four times. Hill’s role may be different than Pierre’s, but Wommack seemed to think he handled it well.
“He was very physical at the point of attack, made some huge block-destruction plays on their tight ends. I think Georgia has a very good tight end corp. And so, I’m pleased with him,” Wommack added.
While Pierre and Hill are now the first two names atop the depth chart after Latham and Russaw’s injuries, they can’t be the only options that Wommack has at the Wolf spot.
“We’re going to have to be creative in the way that we develop other people in certain packages to make sure that we have enough depth. That’s really the name of the game, right? How do you, each week, handle your personnel to be able to create as much depth as you can for the next week's opponent?” Wommack said. “Certainly, when you lose two experienced players like we did, that’s a challenge.”