Keenan continues tradition established by Daron Payne, other former DTs
The giants of Alabama’s defensive line have been forged from iron in recent years. The Crimson Tide’s last three nose tackles, starting with Daron Payne in 2016 have called Birmingham home.
Alabama replaced Payne, the 13th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, with Quinnen Williams, who went third overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
The latest tackle to suit up for the Crimson Tide is returning starter, and sophomore, D.J. Dale. On Saturday, Alabama found his possible successor when four-star defensive tackle Tim Keenan III, also from Birmingham, became the 20th overall 2021 prospect to commit to Alabama.
“I definitely see Tim being that first-round draft pick one day,” Keenan’s trainer Kevin Brown said. “And that’s just me over the course of the years just understanding and knowing what it takes to get there. Being able to work with so many guys that have done it.”
The list of players Brown has trained is long, and it does happen to include Payne, Williams and Dale. When asked to compare Keenan to his Birmingham predecessors Brown, the owner of Xtreme Fitness and Performance, said he sees a lot in common between Alabama’s latest commitment and the guy that started this ridiculous run of local dominance.
“Everybody always wanted to compare D.J. to Daron,” Brown said. “But even Daron and D.J. they are kind of two different players. … If you want (me) to give a comparison, it would be Tim and Daron.”
On the surface, Brown’s remark seems to refer to Keenan’s size. At 6-foot-2, 330-pounds, he is the closest one to match the frame that Payne played with towards the end of his high school career when he weighed upwards of 335 pounds.
That’s only a small part of it.
“I always tell Daron he’s a defensive back in a defensive lineman’s body,” Brown said. “Tim has some of those same things. He’s a big guy, but he can move, he can move well.”
Brown finds Keenan’s lateral movement and body control particularly impressive, and he isn’t the only one. Payne, Williams and other professional athletes told Brown they couldn’t believe someone of Keenan’s size and age could move so well.
“He can move very well in space,” Brown said. “Great lateral movement. He can stop on a dime and accelerate in another direction. Those are things you don’t typically see big guys able to do.”
That athleticism has helped him make numerous plays for Ramsay over the years. When asked what plays stand out from Keenan’s career, Ramsay coach Rueben Nelson Jr. reflected on a pair of times the defensive tackle showed off his speed and high-pointed the ball.
“His sophomore year, he caught an interception,” Nelson said. “He picked off a screen. I thought it was a great athletic play. He was punting for me his freshman year and he made a phenomenal grab (so) it wouldn’t be a blocked punt.”
Bama Bound
Nelson said he had seen a minimum of 10 family members in attendance for most, if not all, of Keenan’s career. A couple of games every year, Nelson sees that number get as high as 20-25.
That kind of support system isn’t going to fade away now, but it also can’t follow him down to Tuscaloosa next year.
“I know one of the things that was important to him was just being in that family atmosphere,” Brown said when asked about Keenan’s commitment. “Being able to have a great relationship with the coaches and a great relationship with the players that are there now.”
Brown didn’t push Keenan to pick the Crimson Tide, but he might have created an atmosphere that favored Alabama all the same when he asked both Williams and Dale to mentor the Ramsay lineman, the latter of whom definitely made sure to include the Crimson Tide sales pitch from time to time.
“Being able to have those guys come back, put back into the guys that are in the position that you was in before,” Brown said. “Now educate them like hey okay this is what you need, this is what is going to help you out, this is what is going to help you get to the next level. … Those are nuggets that your typical high school kid is just not able to get.”
Brown said watching Alabama’s newest commitment benefit from those lessons was priceless. It’s also encouraged him to take a rather strong stance regarding Keenan’s current development.
“These are some big words that are about to come out of my mouth, to see where Tim is now and where Daron was coming out his senior year, I can see similar things,” Brown said. “And I can maybe even see Tim is a little bit ahead of him just for the sake of those guys.”
