A potential breakout star on the Alabama defense
Alabama’s defense will have a new look in 2024, with several key players departing and Kane Wommack taking over coordinator responsibilities. While the secondary (and the cornerback positions in particular) are critical to replenish, Bama’s pass rush is what helped to make the secondary so good last season.
Dallas Turner (10.0 sacks), Chris Braswell (8.0 sacks), and Justin Eboigbe (7.0 sacks) are all out the door. The relentless heat that this trio put on opposing quarterbacks was the catalyst for the rest of Bama’s defense. In my opinion, that pass rush is the most important facet of the game for Alabama to replace in 2024.
Wommack’s defensive scheme will have just one Wolf on the field at a time in its base alignment. The Wolf, formerly known as the Jack or edge rusher, is essentially just a 3-4 outside linebacker. This position produces a lot of pass rush specialists, and it thrived under the tutelage of Nick Saban. With just one Wolf on the field, it appears Wommack’s 4-2-5 will afford fewer opportunities for this room.
Two of Bama’s Wolves have received most of the preseason hype: redshirt senior Quandarrius Robinson and redshirt freshman Qua Russaw. Robinson is the oldest and most experienced player in the room, and appears to be next in line as the starter. Russaw, a former 5-star recruit, is the shiny new toy who is receiving breakout projections.
Stuck somewhere in the middle is redshirt junior Keanu Koht, who could emerge from the pack as a breakout star in the Alabama defense. Koht has received limited playing time thus far, but the former 4-star recruit keeps drawing praise and positive reviews from everybody who coaches him.
Bama will need a dominant pass rusher to emerge this fall, and there is too much talent on hand for it not to find one. Why can’t it be Keanu Koht? Koht will have to continue impressing the defensive staff throughout fall camp, and may have to take an extra step in his development.
It won’t be easy to pass up Robinson, who has been ahead of him on the depth chart for the last three years. Still, Robinson has primarily been a reserve himself. He has just 31 career tackles, so he isn’t light-years ahead of Koht in terms of experience. If Koht is able to pass Q-Rob, he will then have to hold off a talented horde of young guns led by Qua Russaw.
I believe that Robinson, Koht, and Russaw are all at the top of the depth chart with only a few degrees of separation between them. As a result, I think all three will share first-team reps early in the season. Whichever player proves to be the most disciplined and disruptive, a delicate balance for edge defenders, will gradually start eating up more and more snaps. By mid-season, I think Koht could emerge as Alabama’s most productive pass rusher.