Notre Dame’s Ovie Oghoufo Joins Growing Transfer Portal Crowd
For decades, Major League Baseball has had the hot-stove league. It referred to the huge amount of player transactions during the offseason from November until the start of spring training.
With the recent addition of the NCAA transfer portal and broad support for a one-time transfer exemption that makes student-athletes immediately available without having to sit out a year like in the past, collegiate athletics have become their own hot-stove league.
Since last Friday’s 31-14 loss to No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff, a half-dozen Notre Dame football players have entered their names into the portal, with junior defensive end Ovie Oghoufo the most recent.
Yesterday, junior safety Houston Griffith, who also enrolled in January 2018 with Oghoufo, put his name into the portal. Over spring break last year, Griffith and Oghoufo worked out at WIN Performance in Highland Park, Ill., just outside Chicago.
Others from Notre Dame who have put their names into the portal include senior running back Jafar Armstrong, senior center Colin Grunhard, junior running back Jahmir Smith, and sophomore cornerback Isaiah Rutherford.
A common thread in all these departures is younger players moving up on the two-deep ahead of them. Therefore, a better opportunity for playing time might be found elsewhere, especially after in most cases receiving the undergraduate degree at Notre Dame.
In the case of the 6-3, 240-pound Oghoufo, he did see action in 11 games this year at the vyper end position that is graduating fifth-year senior captain Daelin Hayes. Overall, Oghoufo played 149 snaps, 18 of them last Friday versus Alabama. For the season he was credited with 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two passes defensed.
However, the heir at vyper is likely to be 6-5, 257-pound sophomore Isaiah Foskey, whose impact especially as a pass rusher was conspicuous throughout the year and whose ceiling as a future NFL prospect is the highest.
Foskey played 282 snaps this year (about 24 per game), with 34 coming against Alabama while Hayes only had 10, per Pro Football Focus. Among linemen, Foskey finished second in tackles (20), sacks (4.5) and QB hurries (seven) to the graduating Ade Ogundeji.
Meanwhile, 6-2½, 248-pound and ultra-physical sophomore Jordan Botelho also could be in line for more action next season at vyper. A four-star recruit ranked 176th nationally in 2020, Botelho played only 18 snaps on defense this year, per PFF, but was a regular on the kickoff coverage and punt return units, highlighted by scoring a touchdown versus South Florida on a blocked punt.
“Really twitchy, closes well, has a good IQ for the game,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said of Botelho this September on why he would see action as a freshman.
On the strong-side minus Ogundeji, top candidates include current 6-2, 248-pound junior Justin Ademilola, 6-3, 249-pound classmate Nana Osafo-Mensah and 6-7, 252-pound freshman Alexander Ehrensberger.
Ademilola played 233 snaps this year, 26 versus Alabama last week. Osafo-Mensah was unavailable this year after a preseason meniscus tear required surgery and rehabilitation. Ehrensberger played 14 snaps in the 52-0 blowout of South Florida Sept. 19.
Notre Dame signed two freshmen defensive end prospects from California for next season in 6-5, 205-pound Will Schweitzer and 6-5, 220-pound Devin Aupiu, a tandem that originally had committed to Nebraska and UCLA, respectively.
Both three-star recruits are classified more as developmental players over the long haul than instant impact in 2021.
Conclusion/Analysis
Oghoufo would have been in the 2021 rotation like he was this season, but a starting spot at his designated vyper spot would have been less likely with Foskey emerging as a force.
It’s inarguably a setback from a quality and experienced depth standpoint, but Botelho was also going to seriously vie for snaps at vyper in 2021. If either Foskey or Botelho were to get sidelined by an injury or any other reason this year, then the loss of Oghoufo would be much more pronounced.
Notre Dame’s recruiting along the defensive line has been balanced the past five cycles, and the development has been strong, which has led to rotations that keep legs fresh in the course of an arduous season.
Both 2018-19 starting ends Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara are in the NFL, and next year chances are good Ogundeji and Hayes can be as well.
From an experience standpoint at defensive end, there will be a drop-off next year from the previous three, which is where Oghoufo’s departure hurts the most. There is less margin for error at the position than in recent seasons because other than Foskey, there are far less proven commodities in meaningful game action.
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