Alabama freshman LBs Keon Keeley, Yhonzae Pierre learning but progressing

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama’s outside linebacker position was one of the team’s deepest in terms of talent, and the depth there only increased when the Crimson Tide welcomed a pair of former 5-star recruits to the room in May when Keon Keeley and Yhonzae Pierre enrolled.

After Alabama’s first scrimmage, head coach Nick Saban was asked about the freshmen.

“They’ve both got to learn, and they’re learning and progressing,” Saban said Saturday. “Those guys weren’t here (in the spring). We only had four guys that weren’t here in the spring, so their learning curve is a little bit behind a lot of the other guys, but they have a lot of potential. They have a lot of ability.

“Outside linebacker is a position that not very many guys played when they were in high school – they played defensive end and they rushed up the field all the time. To teach guys how to play that is a little bit of a work in progress. How do you drop? When do you drop? How do you stand up and play and use your hands when can you rush up the field and when can you not?

“So all those things are sort of things that those guys need to learn, but man, we’re happy to have them both here. They’ve got tremendous talent and ability, they’ve got the right attitude and they’re working hard.”

Keeley was the No. 2 overall recruit for the cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, and the 6-foot-5, 242-pound edge rusher has all of the tools to see the field in Year 1, much like Will Anderson and Dallas Turner. There are just a lot of players ahead of him and Pierre – another 5-star prospect who saw a late surge up the 2023 recruiting rankings. He ended up as the 26th overall recruit in last year’s class and arrived at Alabama at 6-foot-3, 223 pounds.

Keeley and Pierre join an outside ‘backer room that already featured six former top-100 recruits, including four that were 5-stars. One of those, senior Chris Braswell, believes his position group is “one of the deepest” on the Tide’s roster, with the recent additions only adding to that.

“They’re both great young guys,” Braswell said of Keeley and Pierre. “They’re still learning the system. They’re both very explosive and they run well.”

Common attributes of freshmen that contribute early

Despite what others might say, freshmen play at Alabama. Last season, 21 newcomers saw the field in at least one of the Tide’s 13 games with several making first-team contributions. Some of the freshmen on this year’s squad appear poised to do the same this fall, and Saban, in a recent press conference, explained the common themes of UA’s early-impact true freshmen.

“I think it’s maturity,” Saban said. “I think they’re mature, they’re confident. It’s interesting how people gain their self-esteem. Some people gain their self-esteem from what everybody else thinks, and I think that’s pretty shallow and can be, sometimes, misleading. But these guys are mature in terms of believing in themselves, having confidence, believing that they can learn, believing that they can go out there and play the techniques that they need to play to be able to have success, and they’ve had success in the past based on their performance and what they’ve done, not based on what somebody else said about them. 

“And I think that maturity is the biggest difference in guys that can develop more quickly and in guys that may take a little longer to develop.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up now for a year’s worth of premium access for $99.99! Or you can also gain monthly access for just $9.99! Get access to premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting content and also join thousands of Crimson Tide fans on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!