'23 FL DE Keon Keeley (Prodigal Son)

NorthDakota · Jan 12, 2026

JamIrish said:
I assure you, he wouldn't have played as a freshman...maybe a la Traore. Last year after Traore and Botelho got injured he would have gotten tick. Obviously, no one knows for sure...but my point is now he is at worst a part of a 3 man rotation with a chance to move inside on passing downs as oppose to having to wait his turn if he came straight from high-school.

He went to alabama to get a bag and PT. Now he is in South Bend ready to do work

Luckylucci · Jan 13, 2026

This is cool. Excited to see him develop at ND.

Some personnel options that have shades of those NYG NASCAR packages.

Dale · Jan 14, 2026

“Delayed gratification”

- Marcus Freeman

Smiling ear to ear

Jiggafini19Deux · Jan 15, 2026

Other than Bryce Young, this is the guy I'm most excited to see Coach Partridge work with. Their paths crossing at ND could be a huge moment for Keeley's football future. It won't take a bunch of stars aligning for great things to happen here, either.

Dale · Jan 15, 2026

arrowryan · Jan 15, 2026

Katie Lonergan putting in overtime

AvesEvo · Jan 15, 2026

arrowryan said:
Katie Lonergan putting in overtime

Can we offer her dogs scholarships? "She currently lives in Granger, with her dogs, Archie the Golden Receiver and Eli the Wide Retriever."

jprue24 · Jan 15, 2026

arrowryan said:
Katie Lonergan putting in overtime

She's Freeman's official stand-in. He can't be everywhere

irishandy · Jan 17, 2026

Welcome home Keon!

bpob55 · Aug 12, 2026

MacIrish75 · Aug 12, 2026

Rizzophil · Aug 12, 2026

Is the expectation that he’s the third de on the team right now?

NDPhilly · Aug 12, 2026

Him vs Josh Burnham will be interesting to monitor this year. Keeley undoubtedly was more expensive + has another year.

NDMatt91 · Aug 12, 2026

NDPhilly said:
Him vs Josh Burnham will be interesting to monitor this year. Keeley undoubtedly was more expensive + has another year.

I could be wrong, but I get the impression that ND would've made the money work, but Burnham wanted to have a bigger role. Ironically, he went to a school where he likely won't start and will get even less snaps than he would if he stayed. Indiana brought in 2 other portal Defensive Ends and they're getting 1-2 more back after the latest ruling. It was a dumb decision, IMO. He would at worst be the 3rd DE here.

Rocketman84 · Aug 12, 2026

Rizzophil said:
Is the expectation that he’s the third de on the team right now?

He can play on either end, I expect him to flourish in passing downs.

irishandy · Aug 15, 2026

Keon is taking in the full experience at ND- helping a local news station for a community cause in June, doing autograph events. I can't wait to see him on the football field. Naming this thread the prodigal son is perfect, Keon is home.

NDhoosier · Aug 17, 2026

If he becomes a star player (this year or next year), it could be one of the best stories in recent history for ND.

ulukinatme · Aug 17, 2026

NDhoosier said:
If he becomes a star player (this year or next year), it could be one of the best stories in recent history for ND.

It would definitely be living up to the thread title.

Mavericknyc1980 · Aug 18, 2026

NDhoosier said:
If he becomes a star player (this year or next year), it could be one of the best stories in recent history for ND.

It will definitely be a story I would like to read

NDFAN2008 · Aug 18, 2026

I think or predict a good season for him being around 6-7 sacks. I think him and Young are your starting DE's next year unless Dunham has something to say about it.

zelezo vlk · Aug 18, 2026

NDFAN2008 said:
I think or predict a good season for him being around 6-7 sacks. I think him and Young are your starting DE's next year unless Dunham has something to say about it.

Traore led the team last year with 6.5 sacks and Bowen had the second most with 3.5. Just to let you know where your numbers stand compared to 2025

allenm5333 · Aug 18, 2026

zelezo vlk said:
Traore led the team last year with 6.5 sacks and Bowen had the second most with 3.5. Just to let you know where your numbers stand compared to 2025

In 12 game regular seasons, I could see a breakdown to something like this:
-Traore: 11 sacks
-Young: 8
-Keely: 5
-Dunham: 4
-KVA and Sneed: 5 total

In total, that would be 33. Doesn’t include other LBs, DTs, and others

slick7410 · Aug 18, 2026

zelezo vlk said:
Traore led the team last year with 6.5 sacks and Bowen had the second most with 3.5. Just to let you know where your numbers stand compared to 2025

Yea that's a nonsense #.

In the last 20 years I think only twice has there been 2 guys with 7+ sacks (2012,2018) and 7 would lead the team most years.

IrishLax · Aug 18, 2026

allenm5333 said:
In 12 game regular seasons, I could see a breakdown to something like this:
-Traore: 11 sacks
-Young: 8
-Keely: 5
-Dunham: 4
-KVA and Sneed: 5 total

In total, that would be 33. Doesn’t include other LBs, DTs, and others

Wouldn't those numbers be kinda insane? For reference, Reuben Bain finished with 9.5 sacks total including the whole playoff run.

Dale · Aug 18, 2026

NDs schedule is unlikely to produce an excess of sacks

You have Stanford, Michigan St, Wisconsin, BYU, and Navy all wanting to be run heavy. Sure their OLs may suck when they go back to pass leading to opportune ones, but you simply won’t be seeing 35 pass rush attempts in half the games.

allenm5333 · Aug 18, 2026

IrishLax said:
Wouldn't those numbers be kinda insane? For reference, Reuben Bain finished with 9.5 sacks total including the whole playoff run.

Maybe a bit ambitious. If you took one away from each, probably more realistic. I do think some teams will be trailing and have to chuck it

slick7410 · Aug 18, 2026

It tends to get spread out more than you would think as well, last year 18 guys recorded at least half a sack. 19 the year before.

NDFAN2008 · Aug 18, 2026

zelezo vlk said:
Traore led the team last year with 6.5 sacks and Bowen had the second most with 3.5. Just to let you know where your numbers stand compared to 2025

Yeah and we had Al Washington as the DL coach not Patridge.

Rocketman84 · Aug 18, 2026

slick7410 said:
Yea that's a nonsense #.

In the last 20 years I think only twice has there been 2 guys with 7+ sacks (2012,2018) and 7 would lead the team most years.

Very possible this year with our secondary, but a lot of that depends on your opposition's penchant for passing the ball.

NDPhilly · 2026-08-27T12:48:12-0400

Looks so much better physically than he did at Bama and even in the spring. Malpractice that Bama had him all the way up to 282.

'23 FL DE Keon Keeley (Prodigal Son)

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