4-Star Texas DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah
Defensive End NaNa Osafo-Mensah
Ranking
ISD: 94 - Four-Star
Composite: 92.8 - Four-Star
Vitals
6’4 - 231
Nolan Catholic (Fort Worth, Texas)
Senior Stats
53 tackles, 12 assists, 10 TFL, 23 QB hurries, 14 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 4 pass breakups
Recruiter
Defensive line coach Mike Elston
Recruitment Rundown
Notre Dame needs to be selective when recruiting certain areas of the country and Texas is certainly one of them, but Osafo-Mensah selected the Irish as much as the other way around, at least early. As Osafo-Mensah began to blow up, he let it be known that Notre Dame was a school he would have serious interest in. But even when the Irish did extend an offer in May, it wasn’t a done deal. He didn’t get to visit South Bend until the following January. That trip changed the trajectory of his recruitment as there seemed to be some momentum toward him staying closer to home. He returned for an official in April and by then had narrowed his list to Notre Dame and Texas. That official is probably what made the difference in the end, but it still wasn’t a done deal until after he made an official visit to Texas shortly afterward. Notre Dame checks all of the boxes for Osafo-Mensah, who is serious about his academics and his faith.
Head Coach David Beaudin
“He’s obviously an elite talent, but what jumps off for him – and has and always will – are the intangibles he can add. The reasons he’s so unique and special is because he’s an elite talent physically, but then you add in his character, leadership skills, his faith, who he is as a person, the time he puts in, how respectful he is.You add that to an elite talent and that’s why you have something special with him. He’s almost sort of created out of a machine. It’s unbelievable.”
ISD expert Jamie Uyeyama
If they were putting together a defensive end in a lab, they’d use Osafo-Mensah’s frame as the base for it. He’s a long athlete who is perfectly suited to play Drop for the Irish right now, but he may fill out and play the strongside end at some point as well. I’ve seen clips of him playing in coverage in camp settings where he looks comfortable and fluid with his movement, which is something he would be asked to do on occasion at Drop for Notre Dame. But let’s be honest, his ceiling as a pass rusher and overall complete edge player is what’s most exciting about this addition to the 2019 class. He has the chance to develop into a three-down force.
Favorite quote to ISD
“Camps are fun, but there’s nothing better than doing it in pads. That’s a game situation. Everyone can pass rush with nothing on, but it’s about what you’re going to do in the game. It doesn’t matter if you win every rep at a camp. It matters how many sacks you’re going to get in a game or the season.”
