Much has been said about the Green Bay Packers’ offseason acquisitions. From Adrian Amos, Billy Turner, Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith in free agency, to Darnell Savage and Rashan Gary in the draft, the Packers have aggressively retooled their roster. But for as much attention as those moves have garnered, one acquisition has flown under the radar. Enter 5th-round draft pick Kingsley Keke.

High School

Keke was a 3-star recruit coming out of George Ranch High School in Texas, where he was both a football and basketball standout. While football was ultimately the path he chose, basketball was Keke’s, first love. In an interview with AggieSports, Keke explains that basketball is one of the ways he unwinds from the grueling demands of football. He played three years of varsity basketball in high school, averaging 9.5 points and 8.1 rebounds as a freshman, 13.1 points and 9 rebounds as a sophomore, and 11.4 points and 9.4 boards as a junior. When asked what kind of basketball player he is, he responded, “I’m a little bit of everything.”

Listed at 6’3’’ 290 lbs, he played defensive tackle his entire high school career and recorded 5 sacks, 60 tackles, and 10 tackles for loss his senior season. He received 22 Division I scholarships to play football at the next level and ultimately chose Texas A&M.

College

In his first three years at A&M, Keke made a healthy living as an interior defensive lineman. He saw action sparingly as a freshman but had a very productive sophomore and junior seasons. As a sophomore, he recorded 37 total tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks. He backed that up his junior year with 54 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

After his junior season, however, Keke was asked to transition from the defensive interior to an edge defender. A&M felt they had a strong defensive interior and didn’t want Keke to get lost in the shuffle, so they moved him to defensive end where they felt he would be most productive.

After playing defensive tackle his entire career, bringing in 22 division I offers in high school and already garnering NFL attention after his first three years in college, you can imagine how drastic that transition was.

Not only was Keke forced to relearn the game from a whole new perspective; he also needed to transform his body. He lost 20 pounds between his junior and senior years in preparation for his new role with the team, trading that extra weight for more speed and explosion. The payout for Keke was immediate. He posted a career-high in sacks (7.5), tackles for loss (11), and forced a fumble, the first one recorded in his career.

While a considerable risk, the switch to defensive end helped Keke’s draft stock tremendously. With three years of solid tape from the defensive interior, he was able to showcase his explosion and versatility in his final year. If there is one thing that scouts love, it’s guys who can do multiple things at a high level.

Green Bay Packers

After being selected 150th overall by the Packers in this year’s draft, Keke joins a defensive line in Green Bay that has a lot of talent. For most fifth-round picks, that usually guarantees a spot on the bench with limited playing time in year one. That may not be the case for Keke. Although the Packers used their first pick in the draft to select Gary, a guy who not only plays the same position as Keke but also brings the same level of versatility, Gary’s shoulder is still a question mark, and the Packers may not want to roll him onto the field right away.

Keke is exceptional at getting after the quarterback, and with his ability to do so from both inside and on the edge, it will be hard to keep him off the field for too long. Yes, he’s a rookie, but outside of Mike Daniels and Kenny Clark, there are a lot of unproven entities on the defensive line for the Green Bay Packers.

Kingsley Keke is a name to remember

Keke has already drawn praise for his ability to get after the quarterback so far during offseason workouts with the Green Bay Packers. If he can continue to make a name for himself going into training camp and throughout the pre-season, watch out for Keke in 2019.