He arrived at Georgia Tech via an unorthodox path. While there, he dealt with a serious injury that cost him most of a season. But with hard work, exceptional athletic gifts, a persevering attitude and development from coaches, he has grown into a likely high-round draft pick at defensive end.
That’s how Keion White has reached this point of the NFL draft process, which culminates at the end of the month and could result in him being Tech’s first first-round pick since 2010. And, after having seen it up close, Sylvain Yondjouen aspires for that to be his journey, too.
“I’ve just been thinking about it all the time, dreaming about it and just giving everything I’ve got, every practice, every workout in the weight room, in the film room, everything,” he said. “It’s there. I think it’s possible.”
Since arriving at Tech in 2019, Yondjouen has seen a few Yellow Jackets teammates earn spots in the NFL, but none from the defensive line. The last Jackets defensive lineman to get drafted was Adam Gotsis in 2016. The last defensive end was Jeremiah Attaochu in 2014 (though he was selected as a linebacker). But, for the past two years, Yondjouen had the opportunity to play and train alongside the next one.
“Now I see Keion getting there and working for it, and it’s like, It’s right there; it’s possible,” Yondjouen said. “You’ve just got to work for it.”
There is indeed work to do. Yondjouen can continue to develop technique to take advantage of his quickness and strength as a pass rusher and set the edge against the run. But the progress is evident. Last season, he was credited with 23 tackles and five tackles for loss, both career highs.
Yondjouen’s play this spring made him the first recipient of the Pat Swilling Wreck ‘Em Award, given to the player who best exemplifies physical play and toughness. He was given the award, determined by the coaching staff, at the end of the spring game Saturday.
That’s perhaps more than some might have expected when Yondjouen came to Tech from Belgium, where he began playing football at the age of 16. His progress was slowed when he tore the ACL in the 2020 season, limiting him to three games that season.
“It was a lot (to learn),” Yondjouen said. “I wasn’t expecting there was that much (to learn) when I got here. Then, that first year, it was really figuring out where I was on the field, what my position was. And with the years (since), it’s understanding what the O-line is doing, what the quarterback is doing, what they’re doing over there.”
Yondjouen is competing with Etinosa Reuben and Josh Robinson for playing time at one of the defensive end spots.
“They’re all unique in their own kind of ways, just like Keion was,” defensive line coach Marco Coleman said. “I just want them to be the best version of themselves, not trying to be Keion.”
Yondjouen wants to emulate White in one particular way that Coleman won’t mind – his relentlessness. Yondjouen recalled how White played last spring with a large cast on one hand and practiced as though his life depended on it.
“I think it’s just being focused and really wanting it that makes (White) get it,” said Yondjouen, whose own drive on the field is evident in the way that he pursues plays all over the field until the whistle. “I’m just going to play like that. I’m just going to keep thinking like that and work for it.”
Yondjouen already has influenced younger players in Belgium. He has become both an inspiration and an information source for players trying to follow his footsteps.
“Even if he never plays football again past Georgia Tech, he has already made a tremendous impact on the future kids of Belgium,” said Brandon Collier, the founder of a Germany-based recruiting service that brings European prospects to the U.S. to take part in exposure camps. “But if he was able to take that next step to the NFL, I think that so many other kids would be dreaming (of following him).”
Collier brought Yondjouen to the U.S. with about 20 players in 2018. One of their stops was Temple, where he first connected with then-Owls coach Geoff Collins. When Collins became Tech’s head coach, he convinced Yondjouen, who was committed to Arizona, to sign with Tech instead.
Collier was at Tech last week as he visited players he had helped in the past. More are coming, which is why he also was visiting with coaches such as Kirby Smart at Georgia.
This year, Collier estimated that he’ll bring more than 300 European prospects from more than 20 countries with PPI, his recruiting service. Collier said that there are more than 100 players in FBS or FCS from Europe who’ve come through the PPI pipeline. He has expanded operations to Senegal, where he said he had 400 prospects at a camp.
“Kids like Sylvain are the reason why we’re able to still continue to be great because he’s come here and is actually making an impact at the power-five level, so all these kids are looking up to him,” Collier said.
According to Pro Football Reference, there have been three NFL players born in Belgium. None of the three took the route that Yondjouen is attempting, to have been raised in Belgium through high school before coming to the U.S. for college.
A player who wants to follow one of his teammates to the NFL someday hopes others will follow him.
“I think a lot of kids back home right now, they’re texting me about how does it work here, and I think if I can make it up there (in the NFL), it will open doors for all these kids in Belgium or even in Europe,” Yondjouen said. “Because it’s possible after you see it. So I’m going to work for it, make it happen, and it’ll be great.”
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