Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2024 15 Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man revealed in January that Alt told him Oben was one of the best pass-rushers he went against all season. Freeman took Alt at his word. The All-American is not on the fringe of becoming a franchise left tackle by accident. He knows a thing or two about blocking the blindside and who gives him the greatest run for his money in attempting to get to the quar- terback. "We were looking for a defensive end, and we couldn't find a better one," Free- man said of Oben when the Irish were transfer portal shopping. Oben has worked hard for what he's gotten. He wasn't the guy who received and accepted a Notre Dame offer out of high school like his buddies. He paid his dues at Duke just to prove he's worthy of wearing the uniform for one year. There's always been a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. "I think RJ stood out as a guy who was always going to go the extra mile. He was always trying to get where the guys ahead of him were going," St. Peter's head coach Rich Hansen III told Blue & Gold Illustrated. Oben's skill set was merely refined at Duke according to Hansen. He was already darn good when he showed up there and in a few seasons become a starter. Hansen could tell early on Oben was fit to be a game-wrecker. "His fundamentals were always there, and he developed into a guy who could do certain things really well in terms of pass rush, in third-down situations," Hansen said. "I think he always brought something into the game." That's the best thing you can say for a defensive end. It's a position that's prone to being game-planned against and shut down. The best edge rushers find ways to circumnavigate opposing offenses' clamps. If there's anyone who knows that, it's Oben's father, Roman Oben, a 12-year NFL veteran at left tackle and a Super Bowl champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022. The pair has con- versed about the X's and O's, and ins and outs of getting to the quarterback. But more than anything, Oben said his dad has taught him the basics of being a pro- fessional. You don't start 130 games in the Na- tional Football League by simply show- ing up. There is so much more that goes into it. Oben observed it all firsthand. "I saw what it was like at the college level and was able to go to NFL games. I could see where hard work can take you and what it takes to get to the league," Oben said. "I have that lens of how the process works, and that's helped me zone in on what I've got to do every day." Oben isn't alone in being a newcomer at Notre Dame with a dad who played at the highest level. There's freshman safety Kennedy Urlacher and graduate student defensive back Jordan Clark, too. The former's father, Brian, is a Hall-of- Famer and one of the best linebackers to ever play. The latter's father, Ryan, won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009. That's what you get at a place like Notre Dame. You also get a ton of talent and a list of 12 opponents who circle the Notre Dame game as their biggest of the year in most cases. If someone on the Irish roster is playing better than Oben, he'll lose his spot in the lineup. The Irish just can't afford to play favorites. Oben's lineage is inspiring, but his body of work is far more important. He's at Notre Dame to keep writing RJ Oben's legacy, not to live in the shadows of Ro- man Oben. "Justin told me to be the best player I can. Both of [the Ademilola brothers] just told me to maximize myself," Oben said. "There are a lot of things here that are different than other universities or other environments. It's just a great place. They told me to maximize it, and that's what I'm going to do." ✦ Notre Dame's Offseason Personnel Shuffle Name Pos. Cl./Elig.* Status RETURNING Howard Cross DT Gr./1 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft Mitchell Evans TE Sr./1 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft Jack Kiser LB Gr./1 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft Rylie Mills DT Gr./1 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft Xavier Watts S Gr./1 Chose to forgo 2024 NFL Draft COMING Jordan Clark CB Gr./1 Transferred from Arizona State Beaux Collins WR Sr./1 Transferred from Clemson Jayden Harrison WR Gr./1 Transferred from Marshall Rod Heard II CB Gr./1 Transferred from Northwestern Mitch Jeter K Sr./1 Transferred from South Carolina Riley Leonard QB Sr./1 Transferred from Duke Kris Mitchell WR Gr./1 Transferred from Florida International RJ Oben DE Gr./1 Transferred from Duke GOING Joe Alt OT Sr./1 Declared for 2024 NFL Draft Ryan Barnes CB Sr./2 Transferred to Massachusetts JD Bertrand LB Gr./1 Declared for 2024 NFL Draft Michael Carmody OL Gr./2 Transferred to UCLA Antonio Carter II S Gr./2 Entered the transfer portal Zeke Correll C Gr./1 Transferred to NC State Audric Estimé RB Sr./1 Declared for 2024 NFL Draft Blake Fisher OT Sr./1 Declared for 2024 NFL Draft Rico Flores Jr. WR So./3 Transferred to UCLA Cam Hart CB Gr./1 Declared for 2024 NFL Draft Ramon Henderson S Gr./1 Transferred to UCLA Braylon James WR So./4 Transferred to TCU Aidan Keanaaina DL Gr./2 Transferred to Cal Andrew Kristofic OL Gr./1 Retiring from football Marist Liufau LB Gr./1 Declared for 2024 NFL Draft Tobias Merriweather WR Jr./2 Transferred to Cal Nana Osafo-Mensah DE Gr./1 Transferred to TCU Holden Staes TE So./3 Transferred to Tennessee Chris Tyree RB Gr./1 Transferred to Virginia Nolan Ziegler LB Jr./3 Transferred to Central Michigan * Eligibility listed is for the 2024 season