Keeanu Benton traded the wrestling mat for turf and hasn't looked back, and now he has his eyes set on making it to the NFL and taking down Aaron Rodgers.
Benton enjoyed a four-year career at Wisconsin, earning attention from Big Ten coaches in 2021 as he was named second-team all conference as the anchor of the nation’s top rushing defence. He continued his fine form in 2022 and is expected to be selected within the first three rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft next week.
Benton followed the New Orleans Saints when he was younger, although he also followed the Bears as he lived in Chicago. While he has no preference over a destination, Benton is looking forward to taking on and competing with players he has followed for years.
“I really like D.J. Reader. He’s a great run stopper and I kind of modelled my run game after him, although it’s not at his level yet,” Benton revealed. “I also like Grady Jarrett from a pass-rush perspective, and I strive to reach and surpass the level of those two guys.”
When asked if there was a player he is looking forward to facing in the NFL, Benton smiled and said: “I’ll say Aaron Rodgers. Being in Wisconsin, I heard about him so much - everyone is in love with him “It’d be nice to get my hands on him for a sack. He’s been in the league so long, it would definitely be a dream come true to sack Rodgers.”
The 21-year-old is enjoying the draft process, speaking to all 32 franchises at the Senior Bowl and Combine as teams appear to like what they see in the young man whose unflinching honesty is a breath of fresh air among budding sports stars. With his unique combination of size, length and strength, Benton can move offensive lineman at will.
“I’m an aggressive player - you have got to be aggressive to play in the trenches because you get hit every play,” Benton exclusively told Mirror Sport. “There’s not a play where you're not making contact with somebody, and that's why I love my position because at the end of the day, it's just me versus an o-lineman or two and I have got to run through their face. I like running through peoples faces to make TfLs (tackles for losses) and sacks. I don’t really care for the pretty s*** - I just like to hit people and make plays. It’s productive being disruptive.”
One of the best run-stuffing nose tackles in college football and this draft class, Benton has steadily evolved into an unmovable force for offensive linemen to struggle against - and it is perhaps due to his wrestling past. The defensive tackle finished as a Division-I runner-up at 285 lbs with an incredible 48-2 record on the mat.
“I didn’t start playing ball until the eighth grade because I was a wrestler, and my coach recommended I play football. On the first day, I understood how wrestling correlates with football - you hit people! It was a great way to take out aggression, and it took off from there.”
His wrestling pedigree translates to the turf as Benton can overpower and outlast opponents in tight spaces, using his knowledge of leveraging his size to defeat an opponent. Benton believes it certainly helped his football career, adding: “It’s a one-on-one matchup out there - and it’s the same on the wrestling mat. There’s going to be a winner and a loser and personally, I don’t like to lose.
“I reached the state finals twice and unfortunately lost both times, but wrestling was fun. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I was a captain of the wrestling team, and the brotherhood I built with the guys and coaches was very important to me throughout high school.”
As he left high school to pursue a career in football, Benton was drawn to Wisconsin because he appreciated the culture and coaching style within the programme. He pointed to the high level of competition, adding: “Whether it was player-to-player, coach-to-coach or player-to-coach, there was always a but of s*** talking - and that’s the way I like to compete. I like to talk s*** and make you work hard to beat me.”
In 2022, Benton achieved career-highs in tackles (35), tackles for loss (10) and sacks (4.5). He believes his improvement came from an improved football acumen: “It was down to understanding football more. I learned everything about football at Wisconsin, so just taking those steps and becoming more conscious of what was going on around me and how plays came together. Towards my senior year, I started to figure out offensive lineman and backfield sets to see where the ball was going. I just became more football conscious.”
Benton tallied two tackles for losses in his first two plays when he made his debut for the Badgers against USF in Tampa back in 2019, setting the tone for a fine college career. He actually had an opportunity to return to the team in 2023 but Benton believes he is ready for the NFL.
“I knew it was my last year going into it. I have another year of eligibility but I was banking on it to be my last year because I wanted to go to the NFL and mature both on and off the field as much as I could in one year,” Benton said. “I think I did a great job of that and became more of a leader. Unfortunately, we had some coaching changes in the middle of our season but I kept my head down and stayed working.”
