Position Week: Bold predictions for Alabama’s outside linebacker room
BamaOnLine will spend 10 total weeks breaking down position groups on Alabama’s 2024 roster leading up to the start of preseason camp. We continue with the outside linebackers.
To conclude OLB week, the BOL team staff shared its bold predictions for the upcoming fall.
Charlie Potter
Robinson, Koht and Russaw finish with six sacks apiece
Alabama’s top three outside linebackers in 2023, Dallas Turner, Chris Braswell and Quandarrius Robinson, combined to record 19.5 sacks during the Crimson Tide’s 14-game season. Turner and Braswell, of course, are now in the NFL, while Robinson is the lone returner with any first-team reps. But Keanu Koht is expected to assume a much larger role, while Qua Russaw appears to be No. 3 in Alabama’s Wolf pecking order. Assuming that is the trio we see the most this fall, I think all three can get to six sacks apiece (18 total).
Travis Reier
Koht will have four or more sacks before October rolls around
With Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell off to the NFL, someone needs to step forward on the edge. After injuries stymied his growth during the first two years of his time at Alabama, Keanu Koht has hit a stretch of good health that has helped put him in position to make an impact as a fourth-year junior. Here’s guessing it won’t take the program veteran long to do just that when the 2024 campaign gets underway.
Jimmy Stein
For the last few seasons, Alabama has played with two OLBs on the field quite frequently. It has been the most common look at times. Here comes new defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and his Swarm defense, and with it comes a new scheme – the principal look will be one outside linebacker on the field most of the time.
It’s a deep position for the Tide. This pass-rushing spot could feature veterans like Quandarrius Robinson and Keanu Koht sharing snaps at this position but could also include young players like the promising duo of Qua Russaw and Yhonzae Pierre. To say nothing of true freshmen – could Noah Carter prove too good to keep off the field?
There are many candidates for Leading Sack Man from this position (known as ‘Wolf’ in current nomenclature), but I am going to go with Koht. This is bold because Koht has yet to record a sack in his three seasons at Alabama. Finally healthy, Koht will lead this strong unit with nine sacks in 2024, but a few Wolves will contribute to the overall sack number.
Clint Lamb
Alabama fields a three-man rotation at Wolf
I’ve been fascinated with the new Wolf position this offseason. Watching the 2023 South Alabama defense, you noticed that their main Wolf (Quentin Wilfawn) spent over a third of his snaps off the ball, but as I got more into the 2022 and 2021 USA defenses under now UA defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, I learned that usage might’ve been somewhat of an outlier due to Wilfawn’s vast experience playing off-ball linebacker before sliding over to Wolf last season.
I also noticed that while there wasn’t much of a rotation at that position in 2023, or even 2022, you did see a three-man committee at work during Wommack’s first year in Mobile, which even included former Alabama linebacker Christian Bell. I’m predicting a three-man rotation will also be the case during his first year in Tuscaloosa with Quandarrius Robinson, Keanu Koht and Qua Russaw all vying for playing time. You won’t quite see a Dallas Turner–Chris Braswell type of impact from this trio, but I believe there’s impact and production on the horizon.
More Position Week articles
Four offseason questions for Alabama’s edge rushers
Analyzing Alabama OLB depth chart for 2024 season
Four Alabama edge rushers of interest for 2024
The post Position Week: Bold predictions for Alabama’s outside linebacker room appeared first on On3.
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