Keon Keeley flashes 5-star talent in spring game

TAMPA, Fla. – Five-star EDGE Keon Keeley and his Tampa Berkeley Prep team wrapped up spring practice by taking on Zephryillis (Fla.) Wiregrass Ranch in a spring game on Thursday night. On3 was on hand for the game, which provided our first chance to see the On300‘s top-ranked non-quarterback play in person. The Notre Dame commit played the majority of game’s snaps, working as a defensive end and tight end.

Wiregrass Ranch features On300 wide receiver and Ohio State commit Bryson Rodgers as well as 2024 On300 receiver Izaiah Williams.

Notre Dame assistants Al Washington and Chansi Stuckey were on hand to watch Keeley. Berkeley Prep edged out the win in what was a low-scoring contest.

Keeley has been committed to Notre Dame since June 2021. He’s also visited Alabama, Florida and Ohio State this off-season.

Keon Keeley passes the eye test

With it being our first time seeing Keeley play in person, it’s worth noting he passed the eye test. Keeley is all of 6-foot-5 plus and 245 pounds with long arms. He has a big, prototypical frame for an EDGE prospect and has continued to add mass over the course of the past year.

It certainly was not hard to pick out the five-star prospect on a field with several future Power Five and FBS players.

Keeley is a coordinated and flexible athlete – which was apparent as early on as warm-ups.

Keeley impresses with pass rush skills and effort

Keon Keeley proved to be highly disruptive once the game got going. He was consistently in the backfield and affected the game in a number of ways. Keeley accounted for a sack, several tackles for loss, a batted pass and multiple pressures.

The sack may have been Keeley’s best play of the game, at least from an individual standpoint. He beat the offensive tackle with a quick spin move before closing on the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. For a prospect with considerable physical gifts, Keeley has some pass rush skills and moves that border on advanced for this stage, relative to his peers.

Keeley looks to be focused on making technical strides as a pass rusher and it’s showing on the field. He received coaching from former Florida and NFL star defensive end Kevin Carter (who is an assistant for Berkeley Prep) while on the sidelines between series.

Wiregrass Ranch struggled with low snaps for much of the night. Keeley was in the backfield to mop up the play on most of the errant snaps.

Notre Dame 5-star EDGE commit Keon Keeley has been in the backfield consistently tonight. Handful of TFL, a sack off a spin move, several pressures and a batted pass @MikeTSinger https://t.co/69lOcHMryF pic.twitter.com/ggbuk0MqbS

— Charles Power (@CharlesPower) May 20, 2022

Keeley also impressed with his effort level over the course of the game. As noted earlier, he played the majority of the snaps and we didn’t see him come off the field on defense. He chased a play from the backside in the first half, showing play speed and motor. Many of Keeley’s most impactful plays came in the second half. He seemed to get better as the game wore on.

Closing thoughts

Overall, it was an impressive showing for On3’s No. 3 prospect in the 2024 cycle. The frame, movement skills, developing skill and effort level all stood out.

Keeley is a dominant pass rusher at this level and seems to grasp the type of impact he can have on the game on a snap-to-snap basis. There were not a bunch of pure pass rush opportunities on Thursday night, but he made the most of his chances.

We saw Keeley amass 34 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks as a junior while helping Berkeley Prep make a state title appearance. He’s primed for a strong senior season if Thursday night was any indication.

There’s considerable attention at the top of the On300 rankings in the 2023 cycle with touted quarterback prospects Arch Manning, USC commit Malachi Nelson and Tennessee pledge Nico Iamaleava surrounding Keeley in the top five. It’s hard to say how things will shake out this early, but Keeley looked the part of a top EDGE prospect on Thursday night.