9/7/2023 football Edit

Tech loses DE Sylvain Yondjouen for the season

Kelly Quinlan • JacketsOnline

Publisher

The man tapped with the tall task of replacing departed second-round pick Keion White in the Georgia Tech defense Sylvain Yondjouen suffered a season-ending injury in the opener against Louisville. Yondjouen played 27 snaps in the loss to the Cardinals before leaving the game with an apparent knee injury.

Head coach Brent Key confirmed Yondjouen has torn his ACL and will return for 2024.

"With Sylvain unfortunately what we feared happened. I just spoke with him in the leadership meeting and he talked to his parents already and they wanted me to go ahead and announce to the media that Sylvain tore his ACL and will be out and have surgery on September 21," Key said. "I hate it for him, but as I told him now what? All you can do is prepare for the surgery and rehab. We are excited to know that Sylvain will be back with us for another year and he has already made that decision with his family so I'm excited for his future. I hate it in the meantime for him not being on the field with us. It leaves a void not only is he a great player, but from a leadership standpoint."

Yondjouen played in 25 straight games for the Jackets following a knee injury in 2020 that happened in game three at Syracuse. He finished last season with 32 tackles, five tackles for a loss, and 2.5 sacks in a reserve role behind White.

He has one year thanks to Covid rules remaining to return for 2024.

Yondjouen was one of the Jackets representatives at the ACC Kickoff event in July (Atlantic Coast Conference)

In Yondjouen's absence, the Jackets will turn to Eddie Kelly and Josh Robinson to fill the defensive end void following the talented end's injury. Key said that Clemson transfer Etinosa Reuben and rush end Noah Collins will also fill that void.

"Luckily it is a position we have good depth at. Eddie Kelly has come in as a young guy and he has played meaningful reps last Friday night. He is only going to continue to get better and better the more he plays. ET (Reuben) got some reps the other night and he will continue to get more reps. Josh Robinson is another one and Noah Collins has got the ability to play both sides we've got players there that can step up and ill the void from a body standpoint. We are going to miss Sylvain and obviously, he is a really good football player so now it is about challenging those other ones to step up and take his place," Key said.