We are breaking down the Notre Dame football prospects ahead of the NFL Draft which begins on Thursday, April 29th in Cleveland, Ohio. There will be no NFL Combine this year due to the pandemic. However, Notre Dame will hold its Pro Day on March 31st at 12:00 PM in South Bend.

Next up, a long defensive end with an impressive amount of growth in college which could be enticing to several NFL front offices.

SPECS

Name: Ade Ogundeji
Position: DE
Height: 6-4 3/8 (per the Senior Bowl)
Weight: 256 (per the Senior Bowl)
Hometown: West Bloomfield, MI

STATS

YEAR SOLO ASST TACKLES TFL SACK
2018 12 13 25 3.5 1.5
2019 13 13 26 5.5 3.0
2020 13 7 20 6.0 6.0
TOTAL 56 41 97 20.5 10.5

BIO:

Ogundeji was a 3-star prospect out of the northern Detroit suburbs and the 4th lowest (3rd lowest when you subtract the long-snapper) prospect from the 2016 class who was originally committed to P.J. Fleck and Western Michigan. In the summer of 2015, he began to receive more Power 5 offers and gave a verbal to Notre Dame in mid-July after jumping ship from WMU.

Through 2 years, Ogundeji didn’t make an impact but he emerged as a quality backup to Khalid Kareem and staked his claim as a future starter with a tackle for loss in the national semi-finals against Clemson in 2018.

In 2019, he shared a lot of reps with Kareem and finally emerged fully in 2020 as one of the backbones of another strong Notre Dame defense as well as a team captain.

STRENGTHS:

Tremendous length with a tall frame and long arms. Holds up well on the strong-side with quality strength. Combines good run stuffing ability with better-than-you-expect pass rushing skills. Impressive development over his career with a lot of added weight. Very heavy hands. Decent speed chasing ball-carriers.

WEAKNESSES:

Neither a pure pass-rusher or a jumbo end. Bit of a tweener. Needs to carve out a specific role in the NFL. Will need to work on his consistency of production although effort is not a concern. Stiff at times. Lacks bend and flexibility to complement his long frame.

OVERVIEW:

Ogundeji dropped some weight for the Senior Bowl which is likely more of an indication of getting in better shape than attempting to carve out a career as a lighter pass-rusher. In fact, with his large frame there’s been just as much talk about Ade moving to the interior in the NFL than remaining an edge rusher.

It’s difficult to assess Ogundeji’s stock due to the uncertainty about his position at the next level. Can he stay under 260 pounds and develop pass-rushing skills? Does he grow into a jumbo end? A long defensive tackle? Or a versatile 3-4 outside linebacker? Most scouting reports I’ve read aren’t sure where he’ll end up as a pro. Some like his versatility while others are scared away by being a master of nothing.

PREDICTION:

6th Round, 177th Overall to the New York Giants

I’ve seen places talk about Ogundeji as an early day 2 pick which would be exceedingly surprising to me. You could bring up his frame and potential but to go 2 to 3 rounds higher than former teammate Khalid Kareem seems rather absurd to me.

I do like his ceiling but I do imagine it’ll take Ogundeji a bit to grow into a role at the NFL level. The Giants have the edge as perhaps their greatest need in the upcoming draft. They are likely to take someone with their first pick or 2 and Ogundeji would be a good pick for added depth in the later rounds.

More Scouting Reports to Come:

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Ian Book
Robert Hainsey
Liam Eichenberg