Spring practice is just 48 hours away for Alabama football as we officially flip the page from the disastrous Rose Bowl performance and move forward into Kalen DeBoer's third season as the Crimson Tide's head coach.
One of the most exciting aspects of spring football is seeing all the new faces and gathering intel on who is performing the best. One of the highest-ranked Alabama signees getting set to start practice is 5-star LB Xavier Griffin, who comes to the Crimson Tide with a ton of expectations and a Jihaad Campbell comp - a comp he isn't shying away from with his choice of jersey number.
Rising redshirt junior Yhonzae Pierre is projected to be one of Alabama's top overall players, and he's lighting the fuse of hype and anticipation on Griffin.
During an appearance on The Millers' Edge podcast with former Alabama LB Christian Miller, Pierre had high praise for the talented Tide freshman:
"I like that guy. He has been working his butt off," Pierre said. "He is going to be one of them ones. He is going to step up and be a good player for us."
Yhonzae Pierre says Xavier Griffin is 'going to be one of them ones'
Griffin was a 5-star recruit and one of the prizes of Alabama's 2026 recruiting class. He comes to Tuscaloosa with positional versatility, much like Campbell did, and could spend time with Pierre in the Wolf LB room or could come in and immediately compete for one of the starting off-ball linebacker spots.
Based on pure numbers in both rooms, it feels like a safe(ish) bet that Griffin is going to begin spring practice as a Wolf, but Kane Wommack will find creative ways to get him onto the field.
The talent is there for Griffin, but learning the defensive system and continued work in the strength and conditioning program are all that stand in his way of carving out an immediate role as a true freshman.
Griffin has clearly been hard at work, already putting on 18 pounds this offseason, going from a listed 200 pounds on his recruiting profile up to 218 a couple of weeks ago.
If that trend continues, Griffin won't be on the sidelines for long.