This Guy Plays Notre Dame Football: #34 Osita Ekwonu, LB

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a roster full of players, and we want to talk about them all. One Foot Down’s player profile series will take a look at every single one of them, and hopefully we all learn a little bit more about these guys, and Notre Dame’s chances for the upcoming 2020 season.

#34 Osita Ekwonu, LB

Ekwonu is a red-shirt freshman from Charlotte, NC, who was a consensus 4 star recruit coming out of high school. He took advantage of the new red shirt rules by playing in 3 games on special teams last year, recording a tackle vs. Bowling Green. No Spring Ball hurts his chances of being a rotational player to start the year, but is someone who has a lot of upside and 4 years of eligibility remaining. He will compete at the Buck position in Summer Camp and will look to be a staple across all special teams units in 2020.

Spirit Animal

Ticonderoga Granite

To put it lightly, this dude is rocked up. He pops out of his jersey with his 6’1 230lb frame. He is a guy you want getting off the bus first as his body looks like the Under Armour football model at a Sporting Goods store. His high school hudl lists his testing at.... 350lb bench and 600lb squat. DEAR LORD THIS GUY IS A FREAK.

Also anything with Ticonderoga in it is superior, as in the G.O.A.T. pencils...(shoutout teachers around the world). Academics is also huge for him and he is clearly a sharp (get it) kid, just check out this video of him talking about his recruitment here.

2020 Outlook

Photo by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Osita will compete for the Buck spot this year, and could potentially see some real action. He is someone who would have benefitted tremendously from Spring Ball. He has the size and body type to play, but probably needed the Spring to get as many “live” reps as possible. Without that, it is near impossible to project how that position group will shake out in terms of reps until the end of Camp this Summer. Regardless, he will be a key special teams contributor on all units. He has a high ceiling and based on his involvement in recruiting (he was on Will Shipley’s “official” zoom visit”), the coaches like this guy. He will be a player down the road for the Irish and we should see some glimpses in 2020.

PS a nice refresher of the type of athlete he is.