Elite length and strong hands define Keon Keeley's game. Can he regain explosiveness and fulfill immense potential at Notre Dame?
The Fighting Irish football team landed a very important pickup today when former Alabama defensive lineman Keon Keeley announced he was transferring to Notre Dame. This was a much-awaited decision, as Keeley was once the crown jewel of Notre Dame's 2023 recruiting class. He ultimately signed with Alabama, but Keeley will now finish his career playing for the Irish.
Let's look at the scouting report for Keeley.
School: Alabama
Height/Weight: 6-5, 282
Class/Eligibility: Senior/Junior
2025 Stats: 16 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, 1 blocked kick
Analysis: Keeley has an excellent frame so it's no surprise he put on a lot of weight on at Alabama. He has elite length and strong hands, and that trait was arguably his best asset this season at Alabama. We rarely saw Keeley his first two seasons, but as the 2025 season wore on he played more and more. His length and punch were his best weapons as an edge rusher and run defender, and initially should be his best asset at Notre Dame. There are technical aspects to using his hands that he'll need to improve upon and I expect that will be one of the first things Charlie Partridge will focus on.
Keeley was listed at 282 pounds this past season, but I don't think it was all ideal weight, or good weight. I would like to see Loren Landow and the strength staff work to get at least 10-15 pounds off of Keeley's body and streamline him a little bit. He was a bit of a tweener at Alabama, and he needed the extra weight to fit into that system. At Notre Dame I think he could/should get down to 265 to 270 (at the most), which would be better suited to being a pure edge in Notre Dame's four-down defense.
Even with the extra weight Keeley showed a really nice burst off the edge, which was his second best asset. A more streamlined Keeley would likely get at least a little bit of juice back. I can only speculate about whether or not Keeley can show the elite explosiveness he possessed as a 230-pound high school senior, and that will determine just how big of a pickup this is. If he's just a better coached version of the player he was at Alabama he gives the Irish a solid rotation player. If he can remotely look like the athlete he was coming out of high school this becomes a massive pickup and gives the Irish a chance to have arguably the best edge group in the country.
I wasn't overly impressed with the technical prowess of the younger defensive linemen at Alabama the last two seasons. There is work that is needed here, but that is where Partridge thrives. Keeley is the kind of prospect that could really see his game take off under that kind of coaching. Keeley coming to Notre Dame with the right mindset and willingness to work hard, combined with Partridge's coaching and Landow getting him in better shape, is key to his game taking off and him living up to his immense potential.
Notre Dame Fit: Notre Dame moved to left-right instead of field-boundary under Ash, so I'm not sure which side we'll see Keeley. My assumption is that he will slide in behind Bryce Young due to their similar size-frame-athletic skills. Of course, he could line up behind Boubacar Traore, be a strong rotation player and then take over in 2027 if Traore goes to the NFL. There's also the possibility - and perhaps likely possibility - that we see a bit more cross-training this season, meaning lefts can play right, and rights can play left from series to series.
Keeley's game has always been better as more of a pure power edge, as opposed to the hybrid type player Alabama tried to make him. At Notre Dame he can develop into at minimum a solid run defender that uses his great length and quality strength to be a factor as a force player. At minimum he can also give power edge rushing production as part of the rotation. If he gets some of his burst back and takes well to Partridge's coaching he could quickly emerge as a potent member of a dominant three-man edge group that fuels the Irish defensive line.
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