| 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 college football defensive end for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He previously played for the Duke Blue Devils.
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]
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]
Oben decided to transfer to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. [11] [12]
| 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 | |
RJ is short for 'Roman Junior' and is the son of former NFL offensive tackle Roman Oben. [13] [14]
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