RJ Oben
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish – No. 9 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end |
| Class |  |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | June 17, 2001 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, New Jersey) |
Roman "RJ" Oben Jr. (born June 17, 2001) is an American football defensive end for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He previously played for the Duke Blue Devils.
Early life and high school
[edit]Raised in Montclair, New Jersey, Oben attended high school at St. Peter's Preparatory School.[1] Coming out of high school Oben was rated as a three-star recruit where he decided to commit to play college football for the Duke Blue Devils.[2][3]
College career
[edit]Duke
[edit]In Oben's first season in 2019, he played in four games, making just one tackle before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.[4] In the 2020 season, Oben made four tackles with half a tackle being for a loss.[5] In the 2021 season, Oben totaled 25 tackles, with seven going for a loss, five sacks, three forced fumbles, an interception, and a pass breakup.[6] During the 2022 season, Oben notched 20 tackles with six and a half being for a loss, four and a half sacks, and two forced fumbles.[7] In the 2023 season, Oben tallied 17 tackles, with six going for a loss, and five sacks.[8] After the conclusion of the 2023 season, Oben decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal.[9]
In Oben's career with the Blue Devils, he recorded 67 tackles with 20 being for a loss, 14 sacks, five forced fumbles, and an interception.[10]
Notre Dame
[edit]Oben decided to transfer to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.[11][12]
College statistics
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sack | PD | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||
| 2019 | Duke | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Duke | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Duke | 12 | 10 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 5.0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Duke | 13 | 12 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Duke | 12 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Notre Dame | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 53 | 36 | 70 | 35 | 35 | 14.5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
Personal life
[edit]RJ is short for 'Roman Junior' and is the son of former NFL offensive tackle Roman Oben.[13][14]
References
[edit]- ^ RJ Oben, Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. Accessed January 27, 2024. "Hometown: Montclair, NJ;: High School: St. Peter's Prep"
- ^ "Football: St. Peter's R.J. Oben, Ayir Asante pick their colleges". NJ.com. July 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Friedman, Adam. "New Jersey DE R.J. Oben announces his commitment to Duke". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Auman, Greg (November 7, 2020). "Thirty sons of ex-Bucs will (off)spring into action this college football season". The Athletic. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ "R.J. Oben 2020 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Roberts, Ryan (December 14, 2023). "Notre Dame Is Getting Versatile Pass Rush Threat In RJ Oben". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Kelly, Kyle (December 13, 2023). "Transfer Portal: Former Duke DL R.J. Oben commits to Notre Dame football". On3.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Farmer, Douglas (December 13, 2023). "Duke defensive end RJ Oben transfers to Notre Dame, a pass-rush specialist filling a hole on the Irish defense". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Connolly, Matt (December 2023). "Duke EDGE RJ Oben enters transfer portal". On3.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ "Notre Dame Lands DE Grad Transfer RJ Oben". Irish Sports Daily. December 13, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Driskell, Bryan (December 20, 2023). "Notre Dame Signs Transfer Defensive End R.J. Oben". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Weber, Alex (December 13, 2023). "Notre Dame lands transfer commitment from Duke EDGE RJ Oben". On3.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Hunt, Todderick (June 8, 2017). "R.J. Oben, son of former N.Y. Giant Roman Oben, earns Rutgers offer". NJ.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ Berardino, Mike (December 13, 2023). "More transfer help on the way from Duke: Edge rusher R.J. Oben joins Notre Dame football". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved January 27, 2024.