DRAFT PROFILE: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Linebacker, Notre Dame
29 January 2021 DRAFT LINEBACKERS Opinion Philadelphia Eagles
Measurables: 6’1” 215 LBs
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is a 21 year old linebacker from the University of Notre Dame. JOK grw up in Hampton, Virginia where he attended Bethel High School and was rated a three-star recruit. Initially, JOk committed to play his college football at Virginia before de-committing to reopen his recruitment process. Eventually, Owusu-Koramoah decided to play his football at Notre Dame over an offer from Michigan State. JOK spent his freshman season no the Fighting Irish’s scout team and missed most of his sophomore season after breaking his foot in an early season practice. After being named a starter going into his junior season, he recorded 79 tackles, a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Additionally posting four pass break-ups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. JOK came into the 2020 season on the Butkus Award watchlist and ultimately won the award after a nine game season that saw him post 41 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, three passes defended and an interception. Owusu-Koramoah is an instinctual linebacker who uses aggression and explosion to mask his stature limitations. He has plenty of good tape to prove that he is a more than capable blitzer up the middle and is fantastic in the passing game as well. Often, you’ll see JOK lined up outside the hash marks covering slot receivers and big tight ends in man coverage because his athleticism is off the charts. JOK brings an intensity to his game that is unmatched by anybody he’s on the field with but he plays under control with that intensity and aggression. JOK has the positional versatility that you like to see if you run a lot of base 4-3 sets, as he was used as a hybrid safety at times as well. He will be a three down defender who can move to box safety in sub-packages.
Strengths
- Burst
- Athleticism
- Quick Feet
- Positional Versatility
- Man Coverage
- Aggression
- Intensity
- Gap Discipline vs. Rush
- Block Shedding
Weaknesses
- Size
NFL Comparisons
Luke Kuechly. An undersized linebacker who makes his living doing everything completely right and has the intensity and aggression to match his skills. He has good eyes to not bite on play-action passes and good enough instincts to sniff out delayed screens and swing passes to the flat. The power is there and tackling ability is phenomenal. This is an ideal fit for any linebacker needy team to plug and go at the WILL position in a base 4-3. This is the most pro-ready linebacker in the draft.
Projection
Top 15. As I said before, this is the most NFL ready linebacker in the entire class. He has the speed, athleticism, tackling ability and pass coverage necessary to step into any lineup and be an impact starter. If you have pass rushers on the edge and need a good all-around linebacker to fill the hole between them, this is the guy.
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