Notre Dame Draft Profile: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Linebacker

Breaking down Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and how he projects to the National Football League

Author:
Bryan Driskell
Publish date:
Apr 28, 2021 6:00 AM EDT

Despite Notre Dame's linebacker tradition and the fact Brian Kelly had two previous Butkus Award winners, the Irish haven't had a linebacker picked in the first round of the NFL Draft since 1982 (Bob Crable).

Notre Dame is hoping that changes in 2021, and the vast majority of mock drafts have Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah - Kelly's third Butkus Award winner - going in round one.

Below is my analysis of Owusu-Koramoah from a scouting standpoint.

JEREMIAH OWUSU-KORAMOAH MEASURABLES

Height: 6-1.4"
Weight: 221
Arm: 33"
Hands: 8 7/8"
Wingspan: 78 1/8"

40-Yard: --
Pro Shuttle: 4.15
3-Cone: 6.81
Vertical: 36 1/2"
Broad: 10'4"
Bench: --

NOTRE DAME STATS

2020: 62 tackles, 11.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 break ups
2019: 80 tackles, 13.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 break ups

Career Stats: 142 tackles, 24.5 TFL, 7.0 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 7 break ups

PRO DAY RECAP

Unfortunately, we saw very, very little of Owusu-Koramoah's workout at the Notre Dame Pro Day, which means we can only evaluate his testing numbers.

NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah ranked 12 linebackers in his Top 150, and Owusu-Koramoah's 4.15 pro-shuttle was tops among all of them. It was significantly better than what Micah Parsons (4.50), Nick Bolton (4.50) and Zaven Collins (4.36) put up. Owusu-Koramoah's 6.80 in the three-cone drill was better than the three linebackers just mentioned, who are considered among the best in this draft, and it was the second best of the 12 linebackers in Jeremiah's ranking.

For further context, Owusu-Koramoah's shuttle (4.15) would have been second best at least year's and his three-cone number (6.80) would have been the best.

Those numbers show what Notre Dame fans saw on film, Owusu-Koramoah is extremely quick and changes direction at an elite level. His vertical (36.5") and broad jump (10'4") numbers show impressive explosiveness.

STRENGTHS

ATHLETICISM: The former Notre Dame All-American is an elite athlete, both on film and with his testing numbers. Owusu-Koramoah is light on his feet, displays elite suddenness and his short-area burst and speed are special. He's a fluid athlete that can flip his hips with ease and his change of direction is tremendous.

You see his athleticism in every phase of the game. He explodes downhill against the run, thriving at beating blockers to the point of attack. Owusu-Koramoah's burst and closing speed also make him a highly effective blitzer and they allow him to thrive in coverage (see below). I have some questions about his long speed, but overall he grades out extremely high in every other athletic area, and those traits are far more important to playing on the second level than does his long speed.

Although he's not the biggest linebacker (221 pounds), Owusu-Koramoah's lower body explosiveness also allows him to be far, far more physical at the point of attack than you'd expect of someone his size. He can strike, and he doesn't need many steps to deliver punishing hints.

PLAYMAKING: Owusu-Koramoah isn't just a workout warrior, his elite athleticism and instincts also make him an elite playmaker. He played just two years on the Irish defense, but from the moment he stepped into the starting lineup he showed a penchant for making big plays. Owusu-Koramoah is an incredibly disruptive player due to his speed and closing skills, but he also has a knack for getting his hands on the football.

Here are two examples from Notre Dame's win over Clemson.

Owusu-Koramoah completely changed the game with these two plays, which came on back-to-back series. On the first play, the Irish linebacker shows his athleticism (change of direction) and instincts, which lead to him taking the ball away from another potential first round pick (Travis Etienne) before racing to the end zone for a touchdown.

On the second clip, Owusu-Koramoah actually gets beat by Amari Rodgers in coverage, but he recovers and strips the ball out on a third-down, which led to a field goal. Two plays, two series, 10-game swing. Owusu-Koramoah forced five fumbles in the last two seasons, which is impressive.

COVERAGE ABILITY: Owusu-Koramoah can run with any tight end and back. He makes quick and clean reads in coverage, he can flip his hips with ease and he does a good job using his hands to reroute in coverage. He can cover up the seams and he can run with slot receivers against quick game and on wheel routes.

The change of direction and explosiveness discussed above are traits that allow Owusu-Koramoah to thrive in coverage. He plays exceptionally fast and he trusts his athleticism. Owusu-Koramoah rarely gets beat with the first move because he's patient, knowing he can run with a pass catcher once he commits to a route. That also helps him stay patient on top ends and against double moves.

At times Owusu-Koramoah will get grabby in coverage and his footwork isn't always where it needs to be, but. those are minor criticisms that can be improved upon relatively easily.

VERSATILITY: As I mentioned above, Owusu-Koramoah is productive and impactful in all three phases. He can thrive against the run, he's an effective blitzer, he can make plays behind the line and he thrives in coverage. A smart defensive coordinator won't look at Owusu-Koramoah and ask where can he play (see below), but rather will look at him as a weapon that he can move all around the second level of the defense and use as a weapon to attack offenses.

CHARACTER: Owusu-Koramoah is a hard worker and a high-energy prospect, but he's also a high-character young man off the field. A humble young man, he's also incredibly driven and never satisfied. When I interviewed him this past summer I tried to bring up multiple strengths of his, and mentioned several big plays he made, and he immediately turned the conversation to parts of his game that need to be improved, or plays in those games where he wasn't in position, or didn't make the play. He wants perfection.

AREAS OF CONCERN

A BIT TOO MUCH FREELANCING: There are times when Owusu-Koramoah will find himself out of position because he gets a bit too focused on the ball. He'll get caught peaking in the backfield in the pass game, which you can see here:

This free-lancing also resulted in Owusu-Koramoah taking poor angles to the football. This was more of an issue in 2019, but he would go inside of perimeter blockers to get to the ball because it was the quickest path. The issue, however, is that the angle got him out of position and allowed the offense to get outside of him.

Coaches will have to accept that at times Owusu-Koramoah is going to make a mistake or be out of position. The tradeoff is that freelancing style will also allow him to make game-changing plays, so you learn to live with it, and the best coaches will learn to use that to their advantage.

BLOCK DESTRUCTION NEEDS WORK: Owusu-Koramoah has good length and strong hands, but he can get absorbed by bigger blockers in the. box. On the perimeter he is a bit inconsistent getting off blocks. It was more of an issue in 2019, but there were still moments when he would get so focused on finding the ball that he would allow inferior players to get into his chest and keep him blocked.

WHERE DOES HE FIT?: Owusu-Koramoah's ultimate success in the NFL will be largely determined by where he goes. He must go to a franchise that has a coordinator that is willing to use him in an untraditional manner. If a coach wants to fit him into a box and turn him into a one-position type of player he won't be as effective. If a coach is willing to move him around, play him on the perimeter but also use him in a wider variety of ways he could thrive and be just as impactful in the NFL as he was in college.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Despite his great production the last two seasons, Owusu-Koramoah is still very young for a senior (21 years) and he only really played two seasons on defense. There is still room for him to improve his game. Owusu-Koramoah has technical parts of his game that need to be cleaned up, and as he does that he'll be more consistent, and even more productive.

Owusu-Koramoah can play all over the field, he can make plays in ever facet of the game and he's a hard-worker with high character. Granted he doesn't have ideal size, but he's a tremendous athlete and playmaker, and if a coordinator can't find a way to use him to dominate that's more of a coaching problem than it is a player problem.

NFL PLAYER COMP: I honestly don't have one player who is similar to Owusu-Koramoah. He is part linebacker, part safety in a way that I really haven't seen before other than Isaiah Simmons, who is much bigger than the former Irish star.

NFL DRAFT RANGE: First Round (Top 20)

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