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.
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish – No. 9 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end |
| Class | Graduate Student |
| 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) |
| |
Early life and high school
editRaised 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
editDuke
editIn 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
editOben 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
editRJ 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.