The Los Angeles Rams have enjoyed success selecting defensive linemen late in the draft. Is 2026 seventh rounder Tim Keenan from Alabama the next in line? Keenan could be the next late selection to defy the odds. It’s not difficult to see his path to playing time in Los Angeles.
While the Rams have not found breakout stars in the later rounds, they have identified players who went on to have longer than average careers compared to their peers with similar draft position:
- Tanzel Smart – 2017 to 2023
- Sebastian Joseph-Day – 2019 to current (Steelers)
- Earnest Brown – 2021 to current (Titans)
- Desjuan Johnson – 2023 to current
- Tyler Davis – 2024 to current
These individuals were all
selected in the sixth or seventh rounds. Usually these players struggle to even make rosters, and the Rams were able to find those with staying power—whether they find their niche in LA or elsewhere. This is a testament to the Rams’ process and ability to round out the depth of the team by beating the odds towards the back of the draft.
First, let’s take a look at his draft profile from Dane Brugler’s The Beast:
He was a Nick Saban favorite, because of his reliability and “do your job” production — and that continued with the Tide’s new staff. He got a late start as a senior following preseason ankle surgery, which affected his production, but he played his best ball late in the season (see the SEC championship game versus Georgia)…
Keenan lacks range and suddenness as a block shedder, but he is an instinctual player with the refined hands to clog up run lanes. He is a better football player than a toolsy athlete and could be this year’s version of Khyiris Tonga.
How Rams’ usage will be different than Alabama
At Alabama in 2025, Keenan played almost an even 50/50 split between the A gap (space between the center and guard) and the B gap (space between the guard and tackle). There is not a resource that measures alignment of the techniques within these gaps, which would make extrapolating Keenan’s possible role with the Rams more straight forward.
This is what we do know as far as Keenan’s alignment in the A and B gap over his college career:
- 2023: 172 A; 320 B
- 2024: 162 A; 285 B
- 2025: 201 A; 192 B
- Career: 536 A; 809 B
Because the Rams often deploy two defensive tackles at a time, they rarely line up in the A gap. These are the players and their frequencies for how often they did so last season:
- Poona Ford: 67
- Kobie Turner: 49
- Tyler Davis: 40
- Braden Fiske: 3
- Ty Hamilton / Larrell Murchison: 1
Does LA’s selection of Keenan signal a defensive shift that could leverage a true nose tackle in the A gap? If so, Keenan may have a skillset the rest of the current defensive linemen room might not. The more likely answer is that Keenan will be used more often in the B gap. The encouraging news is that he did this more often than not for his first two years as a key contributor at Alabama. His deployment changed in his final college season.
Keenan is an interesting seventh-round dart throw for the Rams. He may not be stepping into a role as a true nose tackle if the defensive deployment remains structurally the same; however, that does not mean there is not a path for him. If LA sees him as a rotational piece who can hold up in the B gap, play with discipline, and do a lot of the dirty work that rarely shows up in the box score, Keenen fits the exact mold of the Rams’ successful late-round bets on the defensive line. He doesn’t need to become a star or replace Poona Ford long-term in order to justify the pick. If Keenan can carve out a multi-year career than he will reach a level that many day-three draftees rarely reach, and he’ll become another example of the Rams finding value where most franchises cannot.
For a seventh-round pick, that is the real win: staying power over starting potential and instant impact.
