Tim Keenan III, Alabama: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Keenan was a four-star recruit from Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Ala. in the class of 2021

Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan III put in the work to reach a playing weight that maximizes his athletic traits. He’s looking to build upon his breakout 2023 season with another strong campaign that can carry him into the 2025 NFL Draft.

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Tim Keenan III, IDL Alabama: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt junior nose tackle from Birmingham, Ala.

Background: Keenan was a four-star recruit from Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Ala. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 367 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 469 (three-star) for On3.com. Keenan was an unranked four-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked four-star recruit for ESPN with an 80 grade out of 100. He helped Ramsay go 10-3 during his junior season and reach the Alabama 5A state quarterfinal.

Injuries & Off-Field: Suffered a significant MCL injury as a high school senior

Awards: N/A

Pros: Special teams snaps on the punt return and field goal block units, cut roughly 30 lbs. ahead of 2023, very impressive how much he’s slimmed down, some flashes of three-down potential, naturally plays low to the ground, good quickness off the line, quick horizontal burst to exchange gaps at the snap, activates and fires hands early, good movement and momentum on stunts, swim move, powerful club move, club-swim, hump move, two-handed swipe, surprising bend to flatten rush angle, digs legs into the ground and bunkers down, contact balance, anchors low even if it means dropping to a knee, anchors even on one leg, good ankle and knee flexibility, absorbs contact with a wide base, flashes of withstanding combo blocks, success stacking and shedding one-on-one blocks vs. centers, occasionally stacks blocks with a long-arm move, uses club-swim to discard run blocks, athletic enough to play across a guard’s face in run game, too quick to be reach blocked, flows toward the ball even when getting blocked

Cons: Controlling weight could be long-term concern, how much healthy weight can you fit into a 6'2" frame, appears to have a length disadvantage, room to lower pad level more as a pass rusher, pass rush wins are more gradual than instant, infrequent bull rushes, doesn’t drive power through a long-arm at a high level yet, must perfect rip move, a step slow to catch mobile QBs, occasionally tosses aside gap integrity by rushing upfield, driven off the line and displaced by double teams, dives and misses tackle attempts

Overview: Keenan has special teams experience on the punt return and field goal block units. He primarily aligns at 2-tech, 2i, 1-tech, and 0-tech for Alabama but also gets some 3-tech snaps. Following an MCL injury during his high school senior season, Keenan arrived at Alabama at roughly 380 lbs. He dropped to the 340-350 lb. range through the program’s strength and conditioning training but didn’t see game action until losing an additional 30 lbs. ahead of the 2023 season. Controlling Keenan’s weight could turn into a long-term question for NFL teams, but he seems to understand he’s at a healthy playing weight now compared to before. Losing that much weight has helped the Alabama native flash some three-down potential. He naturally plays low to the ground and quickly fires off the line. Keenan uses a sudden horizontal burst to exchange gaps at the snap and activates his hands early in the play. He puts his movement skills and bend on display during stunts. Despite his build and role, Keenan flattens his rush angle by getting low and kicking out his lower half to bend around blockers. His pass rush plan includes swims, clubs, club-swims, humps, and two-handed swipes. Unfortunately, he plays with a length disadvantage that limits the effectiveness of his rush moves. Keenan is naturally low to the ground, but there’s still room for him to improve his pad level. His wins as a pass rusher are more gradual than instant. He doesn’t win on many bull rushes and is still learning to drive power through a long-arm move. Keenan hasn’t perfected a rip move and isn’t fast enough to catch mobile quarterbacks once he gets into the pocket. In the run game, the redshirt junior displays excellent contact balance to anchor, even if he only has one leg firmly planted. He has the ankle and knee flexibility to anchor from awkward positions and absorbs contact with a wide base. Double teams drive him off the line, but there are reps where he withstands combo blocks and holds the point of attack. Keenan successfully stacks and sheds one-on-one blocks against centers. He stacks blocks with a long-arm move and uses a club-swim to discard blockers quickly. The former four-star recruit flows toward the ball even when getting blocked. His gap integrity comes and goes as he sometimes opens running lanes while pushing upfield as a pass rusher. It's worth wondering if Keenan can continue to operate as a nose tackle at his current weight. His 6'2" frame might not be able to support more healthy weight, which could impact his role at the next level.

Overall, there are some unanswered questions about Keenan’s build and how it projects to the NFL level, but he is an exciting athlete with the basic move set to two-gap and offer some three-down potential. The team that drafts him will need to have a specific role in mind as his frame is unlikely to be a universal scheme fit.

Role & Scheme Fit: Rotational two-gapping interior defensive lineman

Round Grade: Fourth Round

Size: 6'2", 315 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 05-19-24