Preseason will decide where Tim Keenan III stands in Rams' competitive roster race

Rookie defensive tackle Tim Keenan III has his work cut out for him. After a quiet training camp, he will compete with a host of defensive linemen for a maximum of two to three open spots on the Los Angeles Rams roster. Subtract one if Aaron Donald returns.

Last season, the Rams carried between five and seven defensive linemen on the active roster, depending on whether you classify players like Larrell Murchison and Desjuan Johnson as interior defenders or edge rushers. Let's call Murchison an interior lineman and Johnson an edge. 

Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford, and potentially Donald will have guaranteed roster spots. Tyler Davis, Ty Hamilton, Murchison, Bill Norton, and Keenan will battle it out as backups. 

Keenan has his recent draft status on his side, but Tyler Davis, Ty Hamilton, and Murchison have more experience. Norton, a practice-squad member who impressed last preseason, is back again. Rather surprisingly, the odds are stacking against Keenan quickly.

Keenan will make his bid for Rams roster spot in tight depth-chart race

As the 232nd overall pick, Keenan was not, of course, a premium investment. At 6-foot-1 and 327 pounds, he is limited to playing nose tackle. That specialization could help him or hurt him, depending on what the Rams value and who else makes the team. 

Make what you will of unofficial depth charts, but in the team's initial version, released Wednesday, Keenan trailed Hamilton and Norton behind Ford at nose tackle, where Davis can also slide over. In other words, he has some ground to make up in the preseason.

Keenan should see some decent reps, starting Saturday against Kansas City. The Rams will want to know what they have in their seventh-round rookie. He does, at least, profile as more of a traditional nose tackle than Hamilton, who clocks in at under 300 pounds, and Norton, whose 6-foot-6 stature gives him a high center of gravity that could work against him in the trenches. 

In the end, LA may give Keenan the nod after a disappointing 2025 campaign from Hamilton and Norton's non-traditional build, plus lack of NFL experience after failing to stick anywhere in 2025.

Davis is by far the most proven producer, so barring some kind of trade, and if Donald indeed unretires by season's start, the Rams will have at most one spot left for Hamilton, Murchison, Norton, and Keenan. 

Even if Donald waits it out or decides he's happy at home, two of the foregoing quartet will be left out in the cold (or at least out on the Rams practice squad). The preseason will do a lot to determine who leads the race as roster cutdowns near.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow