Former 5-Star Edge Keon Keeley finds home at new position

Alabama football’s redshirt sophomore, Keon Keeley appears to be closer than he has ever been to seeing meaningful playing time.

Keeley signed with Alabama as one of the top edge prospects in the 2023 recruiting class. His transition to getting on the field for Alabama has not gone as originally planned, but the former five-star has continued to get better.

The Florida native now lines up at Bandit for Alabama which is the Tide’s strong-side defensive end. LT Overton will start at the position in 2025 with Keeley in place to be the next man up.

“I don’t know how much he gained, but I think he’s like 270, 280 pounds now, moved to our bandit position,” Lawson said at SEC Media Days. “I think he still have some learning to do and with LT in front of him, I think he has a great source to learn from and  just be able to take what he learned since he’s been here and when his time comes, he’ll definitely be ready.”

Overton has noticed steady growth from Keeley in recent years.

“Out of my three years of playing in college football, I haven’t seen a guy like Keon (Keeley) continue to make jumps year after year,” Overton said. “He’s got a great mindset, but at the end of the day, we’re at Alabama.”