Wednesday night's initial availability report for Alabama's matchup against South Carolina this Saturday brought some bad news.
Two key edge defenders - Justin Hill and Desmond Umeozulu - were listed as out for the game. Per Yea-Alabama, both were banged up during the Crimson Tide's win over Florida State on Saturday. Hill suffered a lower extremity injury and is expected to be sidelined for a few weeks. Umeozulu is dealing with turf toe, and his return is TBD.
I listed both Hill and Umeozulu as potential X-Factors for Alabama against South Carolina. Both are athletic edges that would have served Kane Wommack's defense well against an athletic quarterback in LaNorris Sellers.
Hill and Umeozulu are key pieces to the defense and are major losses for the Crimson Tide. Umeozulu earned his first Alabama start last weekend against FSU, with Devan Thompkins shifting inside to add some athleticism to the front.
Yhonzae Pierre will shoulder a bigger burden for Alabama with Hill out at Wolf. Seventh-year senior Jah-Marien Latham will see an increased workload, too. But the spotlight will officially be on a 5-star freshman who has been waiting for his big opportunity.
The time is now for Xavier Griffin.
Xavier Griffin will have a major opportunity for Alabama against South Carolina
Griffin has seen some defensive snaps each week, but this weekend should bring the most consistent reps he's seen yet. He was one of the top players in the 2026 recruiting class and is a player that Alabama is high on. They were bringing him along slowly, but that's no longer an option with Hill and Umeozulu banged up.
Griffin has a major opportunity with those two out. Not just this week, but both will almost certainly miss multiple games.
Griffin has split time between the on- and off-ball linebacker spots. He's been a backup at both. Griffin is expected to eventually play a Jihaad Campbell-like role in Wommack's defense down the line. Against South Carolina, he should see consistent work off-ball. His athleticism could be useful against Sellers.
Griffin will almost certainly get significant work on obvious passing downs as an extra pass rusher.
Wommack could also potentially utilize Caleb Woodson off the edge as a pass rusher, too. Woodson recorded two sacks against Kentucky in Week 2, and Alabama has the depth at the on-ball linebacker spots to spare a body to the edge.
But Griffin stands to be the player who sees the biggest uptick in playing time based on these injuries. He's going to be thrown into the deep end this weekend, and Alabama needs him to swim and not sink.
He's a talented player who was always going to find a way to make a big impact this year at some point. It's just going to have to happen a little sooner than anyone hoped.
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