Florida Gators Target, Four-Star DE/OLB Keanu Koht Commits to LSU
The Florida Gators will be losing out on at least one defensive line target as four-star defensive end Keanu Koht has commited to LSU.
Koht, 6-foot-4, 215-pounds, plays weakside defensive end at Vero Beach HS (Vero Beach, Fla), and originally included the Gators in his top five just one month ago. His top five ultimately listed Florida, LSU, Alabama, Oregon and Auburn.
Koht originally received an offer from the Gators in July of 2019, announcing his recruitment on Twitter. He would go on to narrow his list down to nine, which included Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Mississippi State, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. Koht visited the Gators earlier this year.
Koht is listed as having had defensive coordinator Todd Grantham as his primary recruiter and running backs coach Greg Knox as his secondary recruiter, according to 247Sports.
Due to his size, the Gators would have likely used Koht as one of their BUCK rushers, typically a hybrid player, combination of defensive end and outside linebacker, something Koht has said in the past he preferred to fit in a 3-4 scheme, which LSU currently deploys.
Koht will likely play in a similar role to now-Jacksonville Jaguars and former LSU Tigers outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson who routinely played on the ball, but in a two-point stance with the Tigers. The role he will also play now in the NFL.
The Gators currently have just one true BUCK rusher listed on their 2021 commitments list, including Chief Borders who is listed at 6-foot-3, 230-pounds which allows a player to field multiple positions on the Gators' and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham's defense.
During his junior season, Koht totaled 42 tackles with eight sacks and 13 quarterback hurries.
The Gators are currently still on the lookout for more defensive ends in a similar vein to Koht as they're targetting Ramsay High School (Birmingham, Ala) weakside defensive end/outside linebacker, Jeremiah Williams. Williams placed the Gators in his top-6 list in June of this year.