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Keeanu Benton, DT
School: Wisconsin | Conference: Big 10
College Experience: Senior | Age: 21
Height / Weight: 6’3” / 312 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 3rd-4th Round
Player Comparison: Kenny Clark
College Statistics
Tackles | Def Int | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | Yds | TD | FF |
*2019 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | FR | NT | 8 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
*2020 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | SO | NT | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
*2021 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | JR | NT | 12 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 5.0 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
*2022 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | SR | DT | 12 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 10.0 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Career | Wisconsin | 44 | 37 | 81 | 19.0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Player Overview
Keeanu Benton’s college football career almost never came to be. He was a lightly-recruited three-star prospect, but his wrestling coach was able to get him on the Badgers’ radar. Once in Madison, Benton put his wrestling background to use quickly. He finished the season as the starting nose tackle. While his stats may not be impressive his first three years, he played an important role occupying blockers and freeing up players like Leo Chanel and Jack Sanborn to make plays. In his senior year, he did less two-gapping and used his athleticism to make more plays upfield. The results were highs in tackles, tackles for loss, and sacks. Benton is also on Bruce Feldman’s 2022 Freaks List.
Strengths
- Quickness and athleticism at his size is impressive
- Plays with great leverage; rarely moved backwards in the run game
- Active hands rushing the passer with excellent arm-over move
- Disruptive, using quickness or strength to make plays in the backfield
Weaknesses
- Ends up on the ground more than he should
- Can play too upright and allows himself to be controlled by blockers
- Allows himself to get washed out of plays
- Conditioning might be an issue; seemed less effective as games progressed
Let’s see his work
This rep from Wisconsin IDL Keanu Benton is beautiful pic.twitter.com/PK8sbtBivD
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) February 6, 2023
Watch Keeanu Benton (#95) just bully two NFL players to sack Jack Coan. pic.twitter.com/eBNHY8TmQM
— John Vogel (@DraftVogel) August 29, 2022
How he fits on the Commanders
The Commanders have a big decision to make along the defensive line. Daron Payne is set to be a free agent and the team needs to re-sign him, franchise tag him, or lose him via a trade or free agency. If Payne is gone, the team will need to look for options to replace him. Phidarian Mathis might be able to fill some of that void, but he’s a big question mark and returning from significant injury. John Ridgeway performed well as a rotational player, but is he ready to start? A player like Benton might be able to compete for a starting role and, at the very least, could be an important rotational piece in Jack Del Rio’s defense. He has experience being a run-stopping nose tackle, but I think he offers enough value as a pass rusher to stay on the field in passing situations. He may not be as strong and athletic as Payne, but he could help fill the void if Payne is no longer on the team.
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