Tim Keenan praised for making himself into 'very productive player'
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Third-year defensive tackle Tim Keenan stepped into the starting role at nose guard to begin the 2023 season and continued to start up to the year’s midway point.
Keenan has started in between senior Justin Eboigbe and sophomore Jaheim Oatis, who was the Crimson Tide’s top nose guard last season as a true freshman but has been used more as a defensive end this fall. Keenan’s rise has given Alabama more of a variety up front.
“The one thing it’s allowed us to do all year is Jaheim played nose last year, aight, so his emergence as a good inside player, a good nose lets us play Jaheim at five-technique, and then the two of them play inside when we go to four down guys,” coach Nick Saban said Wednesday. “So it’s given us a lot of diversity in how we can use other players.
“But he’s played really, really well, been very productive. Smart, very dependable. You can always count on him to do his job. He works hard. He gives great effort.”
Keenan, a redshirt sophomore, is coming off a strong performance in the Tide’s 26-20 win over Texas A&M. He led Alabama’s defense with a career-high eight tackles and recorded one of the team’s five sacks as the defensive front applied consistent pressure on A&M quarterback Max Johnson. Keenan was also key in stuffing the Aggies’ run game (67 yards).
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His veteran teammates have been impressed by Keenan’s presence in the middle of the line.
“Having somebody that can push the pocket, having somebody that can take on blocks, that can take on doubles and combos, somebody that has that grit and determination,” Eboigbe said. “Just somebody that makes the defensive line better because he can add to it.
“He’s been a tremendous bright spot.”
Keenan spent the last two seasons as a reserve, seeing the first minutes of his college career this past year against ULM and later against Vanderbilt but did not record any stats. A former 4-star recruit out of Birmingham, Keenan was rated Alabama’s No. 13 player and the 37th-best defensive lineman in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
The 6-foot-2, 315-pound defensive tackle dropped 28 pounds over the course of the offseason prior to taking on a larger role within Alabama’s defense. Saban praised the effort Keenan has put in, not only in his body transformation but also in how he has continued to work.
“He’s kind of made himself a player here,” Saban said. “He’s worked his way up so that he’s a very, very productive player. He could have done what saw the guys do and say, ‘Well, I’m not going to play that much, so I’m not going to work that hard.’ But this guy worked hard for every minute since he’s been here to get where he’s at, and it’s paying off for him.”
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