Alabama football, as it does every year, has some all-star players to replace. This year, some of the biggest losses came on the defensive edge.

Both Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell are off to the NFL. There’s a new scheme for the defense, with the closest thing to the position Turner manned last year now known as the “Wolf” under new defensive coordinator Kane Wommack.

One candidate for the spot is redshirt freshman Keanu Koht. Koht, a redshirt junior, battled injuries throughout his early season in Tuscaloosa, and played sparingly last season, but earned rave reviews from Wommack, who spoke to reporters on Saturday.

“I’ve been really pleased with Keanu Koht,” Wommack said. “Athletically he’s a freak. He does some things, the way he can bend off the edge, his explosive ability. He plays with an extremely high motor right now and he is grasping what we are doing from a schematic standpoint. You see, everybody’s making mistakes, but you see guys correct things from one day to the next and if he can continue to do that, I really like his trajectory right now.”

Koht joined the Crimson Tide as a four-star prospect out of Vero Beach in Florida.

He seems as if he could be a frontrunner for the job. However, Alabama isn’t short on candidates.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the spring, Wommack mentioned several names.

“We have a number of outside linebacker bodies and frames,” Wommack said on March 6. “I’m excited to see what we’re going to be able to do with those things, in terms of sub-packages that we can carry on the field. When you have speed like that, and you’ve got Q Robinson, you’ve got Qua Russaw, you’ve got Keanu Koht, Yhonzae Pierre, a number of those guys that are in those outside linebacker core, and then some special guys that have a ton of experience as well — I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen from those guys, and we have to find creative ways to get them in one-on-one matchups.”

Alabama continues spring practice on Tuesday. It will conclude the spring with the annual A-Day game on April 13 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.