Notre Dame safety Ramon Henderson enters transfer portal
Notre Dame senior safety Ramon Henderson has entered the transfer portal, Blue & Gold has learned. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Henderson totaled 14 tackles, forced a fumble, recovered 2 fumbles, defended 3 passes and recorded 1 interception in 2023. He played primarily in Notre Dame’s “spear” package, with three safeties on the field at the same time.
The Bakersfield (Calif.) Liberty product will be a graduate transfer. He is the fifth Irish player to enter the portal as a grad transfer and the seventh Irish player to enter the portal overall, joining defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah, center Zeke Correll, wide receivers Chris Tyree, Tobias Merriweather and Braylon James and defensive tackle Aidan Keanaaina.
Henderson played 304 snaps this past season, most often as a deep safety but sometimes in the box or the slot. His interception came in Week 1 against Tennessee State, when he dove to intercept an errant Tigers pass. He only started one game for the Irish: a Week 3 win over Central Michigan.
When he committed to Notre Dame on Dec. 19, 2019, Henderson was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 679 player in the 2020 On3 Industry Ranking and the No. 55 player in the state of California.
With Henderson gone, Notre Dame will have to replace at least two safeties who played significant snaps in 2023. Graduate safety DJ Brown, who started all but one game (Week 3 vs. Central Michigan) this season, has exhausted his eligibility. Senior safety Xavier Watts has one year of eligibility remaining, but with his breakout season — he was named a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is given to college football’s best defensive player — he could very well decide to go to the NFL.
Pending Watts’ decision, Notre Dame could be left with just three returning scholarship safeties and one preferred walk-on who could conceivably earn a scholarship, freshman Luke Talich. Graduate student Antonio Carter II has one year of eligibility left, and the Irish still have freshmen Adon Shuler and Ben Minich.
In terms of incoming freshman safeties, Notre Dame is in line to sign four-star prospect Tae Johnson (listed as an athlete but projected to play safety) and three-star prospects Taebron Bennie-Powell and Kennedy Urlacher. The Irish could — and at this point, one would think they will — add another veteran in the transfer portal for depth, if nothing else.
More departures are likely in the modern era of college football.
