The biggest college football news Wednesday came in the form of a season-ending injury to Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses. The preseason All-American is the defense’s quarterback and leader, and now, Alabama is left with two talented true freshmen in Shane Lee and Christian Harris as starters.

Saban announced Wednesday that Moses’ injury would require surgery and it will keep him out an extended time this year — likely the entire season.

So, how does this affect Alabama’s defense?

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit took to social media to explain what it will mean for the Tide’s defense. You can see the full video below.

“Before I even talk about what it could do to Alabama as a team, I’ve had an opportunity the last couple of years to be around Dylan around practice and around the Alabama program,” Herbstreit said on Twitter. “He’s just a good guy. He’s just a guy you pull for. I really thought that this year, with Mack Wilson leaving early to the NFL, this was going to be his turn. When Alabama has a great defense, they always have a guy in the middle that gets everybody right. I thought 32 was going to be that for this year. … Knowing him and his personality, he’ll come back even stronger in 2020. Hang in there, Dylan.

“This is a team that, as always, has aspirations of winning a national title,” Herbstreit continued. “I think those aspirations are still legitimate. You have Tua and that offense, who’s going to score a lot of points. This defense, to me, much maligned a year ago and it got camouflaged with all of the talk about Tua. This defense had some issues, communication, consistency and just being dominant. I think it really didn’t come to the surface until they got to the games late in the year. I think they would be the first ones to tell you they have to be better. Communication in a very complex defense is paramount.

“With the injuries that they’ve sustained now with their leader in the middle in Dylan Moses and of course Josh McMillon out already, you lose really your two starting middle linebackers. You’re going to see guys like Xavier McKinney. He’s going to have to step up. He’s such an incredible player in the back end. His ability to communicate and get everybody on the same page will be big.”

You can watch Herbstreit’s full takeaway below: