It's almost that time of year again, with 117 days until Alabama's 2025 season opener against Florida State on August 30th at the Seminoles' Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

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With spring recently wrapping up a few weeks ago, it’s time for us to take a deep dive into what the Tide’s linebacker room will look like in 2025.

Starting Linebackers- Deontae Lawson, Justin Jefferson, and Nikhai Hill-Green

Alabama is bringing back tons of experience in this room with Deontae Lawson returning for his fifth year with the Crimson Tide, where he started at Will linebacker for the 2024 season. This season saw Lawson finish the season as the Crimson Tide’s second-leading tackler, with the senior linebacker recording 76 tackles, two sacks, and one interception last season before suffering a season-ending ACL injury on November 23 in Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma. Lawson missed out on all of spring but is expected to be ready to go in the fall.

Justin Jefferson is another seasoned linebacker the Tide could retain for a fifth year after gaining an extra year of eligibility under the latest NCAA ruling. Jefferson will see a lot more reps than last year, as the fifth-year senior already put up impressive numbers for the Tide in 2024. Jefferson recorded 61 tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble while playing a backup role until Lawson's season-ending injury near the end of the season, which saw Jefferson start the final two games of the season for the Tide.

Nikhai Hill-Green is a recent addition to the Tide's linebacker room, having joined in the December transfer portal cycle. Green is an experienced linebacker who has attended three schools in his college career (Michigan, Charlotte, and Colorado), with Alabama becoming his fourth. Green had a strong season in Boulder last year, amassing 11.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. In 2024, he finished second in tackles for Colorado (82). Green is not only a run stopper, but he is also an excellent coverage linebacker, having recorded four pass breakups and two interceptions in his one season at Colorado, where he earned second-team All-Big 12 honors.

Depth- Cayden Jones, QB Reese, Darrell “Duke” Jones, Luke Mertz, and Abduall Sanders

Cayden Jones and QB Reese are entering their second season with the Crimson Tide after both players came off of an impressive spring with head coach Kalen DeBoer speaking highly of Reese on “The Game with Ryan Fowler” leading up to A-Day back in April. DeBoer told Fowler, “QB [Reese] is a guy that’s out there directing traffic. He had a really good spring as well.”

Alabama also has three four-star commits from the 2025 class that made their debut with the team this spring, which saw the young bucks get a lot of experience in the defense with Lawson and Jefferson both missing out on all of spring. The Tide’s head coach sounded pleased with the newcomers, with DeBoer telling Fowler, “Abduall [Sanders], Luke [Metz], Duke [Johnson], all three of them have been making plays out there, running sideline-to-sideline. That’s one thing they do best.” DeBoer added, “I’m proud of the way those guys have just taken the bull by the horns and rolled with it.”

WOLF- Qua Russaw, Jah-Marien Latham, and Yhonzae Pierre

In Kane Womack’s 4-2-5 “swarm” defense, the Tide use a Wolf as a strong side linebacker and more of a hybrid who can come to the line and rush off the edge but also drop back into coverage. But with the departure of Que Robinson to the NFL Draft, Alabama will be looking for a new Wolf. Redshirt junior linebacker Qua Russaw looks to be the new leader in the room, but he will need more production on edge rushing than he did last year, with the junior only coming away with one sack in the 2024 season. But Russaw did look impressive in coverage, coming away with two interceptions in his sophomore season.

Jah-Marien Latham was recently shifted from Bandit, where he had one sack and 28 tackles in 2024, during bowl practices in December, and it appears that he will remain in this position for the 2025 season. The 6-foot-3, 280-pounder will aim to bring some size to Wolf.

Yhonzae Pierre is entering his redshirt sophomore year, with the four-star pledge from the class of 2022 providing some defensive output for the Tide last season, earning six tackles and two pass breakups. Pierre could have a strong third year with more reps.

Depth- Fatutoa Henry, Noah Carter, and Justin Hill

Noah Carter is the only one of the three entering his second season with the Tide, since the former 2024 four-star recruit did not see much action in his first season, recording only two tackles in Alabama's blowout victory over Western Kentucky. The young Wolf may have to wait his turn, as three upperclassmen are now ahead of him on the depth chart.

Rivals ranked Fatutoa Henry as the No.2 Juco commit nationally. The most difficult transition for Henry will begetting adjusted to SEC Football. Despite excelling at Cerritos Community College, where he recorded 43 tackles, 7.5 of which were for a loss, and 3.5 sacks in his sophomore season, the SEC is no walk in the park with most teams in the conference featuring a future NFL lineman on their rosters.

Justin Hill is another newcomer to the room. Hill is a four-star early enrollee from the 2025 class whose work ethic has been praised since arriving on campus, with teammate Qua Russaw telling Tuscaloosa News around the start of spring practice that "He loves to work. He love the little things. He had a lot of growth. He's only a freshman, he's still got a lot to go, but he's had a lot of growth."

Kalen DeBoer’s Expectations on Linebacker Room

DeBoer joined CBS Sports’ Josh Pate, where Alabama’s head coach told Pate, “I think at linebacker, I don't want to say it's a pleasant surprise, but we weren't expecting to have Deontae Lawson. Unfortunately, he had an injury, but he is back, and that turned leadership in that spot. And with Justin Jefferson coming back through the junior college rule and things like that, it allowed him to have a year that we weren't expecting."

The Crimson Tide's head coach went on to discuss how he did not expect this room to be as experienced as it is, saying, "That group all of a sudden went from what we envisioned this year probably being a little more youthful with some new faces to all of a sudden being a rock-solid group that we're really counting on to lead the charge at linebacker - how can you not love that?"

With the expected returns from Jefferson and Lawson, the Crimson Tide’s linebacker room is locked and loaded with talent, and that will be on display when the Crimson Tide open the season against Florida State at the end of August.

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