Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Scouting Report

#1

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah projects as an impact defender at the NFL level. There’s an undeniable level of explosion to his game that helps Owusu-Koramoah mask the limitations of his game on account of his stature. An ideal match from a team perspective would be one that wants to stay in their base defensive personnel at a higher than average rate, where Owusu-Koramoah’s versatility can shine brightly against spread sets. There’s plenty of experience playing as a pressure player up the middle and even as a pseudo-third safety who is walked outside the hashes and taking man-to-man reps against wide receivers from the slot. Owusu-Koramoah took a big step forward with his game in 2020 and was in several contests the best football player on the field—he moves at a different speed than his teammates and his instincts to find the football and make big plays is undeniable. The more you watch, the more you love. Just don’t ask him to play a traditional stack role or attempt to work him as the MIKE linebacker for sustained, optimal success.

Ideal Role : Base 4-3 WILL linebacker; three-down defender who moves to box safety in sub-packages.

Scheme Fit : Even front, blitz-oriented pass rush defense.

#2

A guy a like in this sort of role is Talanoa Hufanga. I appreciate a hybird safety-LB in today’s NFL, but I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around taking one high. I’m landing Hufanga in the 4th on some these mocks I’ve been doing. He most likely will go higher. I don’t know about the 2nd. But if he was there in the 3rd I’d be thinking seriously about it. I don’t quite understand why one is verging on a top 15 prospect and the other is like forgotten about or something.

#3

Hufanga will go in the first 50 picks IMO.

#4

Would prefer Garrett Wallow in the 4th than JOK in the 1st or Hufanga in the 2nd.

Just me personally…

#5

I know some love him. But I see a guy who struggles to bring down College players. Sort of a wrap and hold on for dear life type with little to no knock back in his game. I see a guy that is that hybrid OLB/S that everyone says is the future, but I just don’t see it. I see Deone Bucannon, Miles Killebrew, Simmons etc. but rarely do I see that value in it. I’ll take a guy like Devon White to play LB, who still has some sand in his britches and a S to play S and cover primarily all day erry day than the “swiss army knife” player who will more than likely be a liability at an important function if asked to play LB or S.

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#6

But just 6’1" 216. Perhaps a move to strong safety is in the offing ala Troy Polamalu, but the guy was just a phenomenal athlete:

https://relativeathleticscores.com/2020/01/23/troy-polamalu-ras/#:~:text=At%20the%20Combine%2C%20he%20recorded%20a%20bench%20press%20of%2025,10.0%20score%20out%20of%2010.0.

#7

I think there is a lot of speculation/theorization that the NFLs move to NFL/High School offenses is about to accelerate. If that happens the demand for players like JOK or Hufanga is going to increase.

#8

Don’t necessarily disagree. I just don’t see a great fit for us. We could go with a JRM sized guy to play WILB. But I don’t think we could go all the way down to JOK and play him inside effectively. That was the struggle the Cards had with Simmons who is a better version of JOK. He doesn’t really work as rush OLBs in this scheme (assuming Rams front seven).

I see him as a 4-3 WILL and Nicklebacker. He will give you Safety like coverage, but you’d better keep him living outside the Tackles and that’s a liability in a Linebacker. I’d rather get a guy like Cox to play WILB and Jordan Smith to play that other OLB spot opposite J Okwara.

#9

Is he? He’s a better run jump athlete but I’m not sure he’s a better football player.

#10

He looks like a DB, not a LB.

#11

There’s a spot for JOK in the NFL but I think you need a very innovative DC to make him shine.

#12

Simmons was the superior draft prospect IMO and was taken higher than JOK will go. It’s also my opinion that JOK will go lower in the draft than he would have, had there not been a Simmons. With teams not over-valuing swiss army knives in the top 10. I’ve seen JOK all over the map. I think he’ll go somewhere between pick 20-50.

#13

Not a chance he doesn’t go before 50. He’ll go 20-30 range imo. Someone will take him and beef him up, kind of like they did with Thomas Davis.

#14

Personally I don’t think he goes top 15. I could be wrong but I think he goes later in round one and would be a 2nd rounder all day if not for the success of Darius Leonard. He is smaller than Leonard who went round 2 but a similar player.

#15

I remember how much Coyote wanted Thomas Davis

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#16

Well, I never say “not a chance” regarding the draft, but I agree with you. I was just contrasting that with where Simmons went as he was the more desired prospect and would be if they were in the same draft.

#17

And Thomas Davis was taken #14, so probably a good chance he’s taken before even #20.

#18

Also to add, I turned on ESPN radio last night right before 11pm and bothered Kiper and McShay agreed to something to the effect that JOK was one of the “most complete” defensive players in this draft.

Like I said, I don’t know if those were the exact words but it was something like that.

#19

Another one:

Strengths

Hybrid linebacker with phenomenal overall athleticism. Sideline-to-sideline speed. Top-tier movement skills for the position. Elite quickness. Tremendous burst/acceleration. Twitchy and explosive. Offers positional versatility. Excellent instincts and reaction time. Standout aggressiveness. Plays with reckless abandon. Throws his body around. Sees the field well and bullets to the action. Darts through traffic to make a play. Huge hitter for his size. Lights people up. Physical taking on blockers in space. All-around playmaker. Looks to force turnovers. Has experience lining up all over the place as a rover. Exceptional in coverage. Able to defend the slot at a high level. Very good awareness as a zone defender. Great timing/accuracy to attack the ball for pass breakups and strips. Shoots gaps in a flash as a blitzer. Plays extremely hard and hustles to the ball. Has the skillset to erase tight ends or be a quarterback spy. Can have success on the edge thanks to combination of burst/bend/effort.

Weaknesses

Will miss some tackles by coming in too aggressive. Very quick to breakdown in space but needs to do it more. Concerns about aggressiveness versus play-action and misdirection. On the smaller side overall for a linebacker. Can get absorbed inside (Alabama playoff game). Could be labeled a “tweener” if he lands with the wrong team.

#20

IE: WILL get absorbed in the NFL. So if you want him at LB, you must keep him in space and if you want him at S, he’s going to be eaten up by NFL WR’s. So I disagree with the “complete” label entirely. Can he play the run as a 3-4 or 4-3 ILB? Nope. Can he cover speed receivers in the slot? Nope. What he is, is a complete 4-3 WLB / Nicklebacker that is undersized. He’s a coverbacker and a really really good one. But you aren’t a complete LB if you can’t stuff the run. He’s not a complete Safety, he’d be an in the box SS type. It’s the typical tweener problem. How high do you value them. I’d have to have an example of a guy drafted in the top 10 that is like this, that has proven he’s worth that high of an investment, when coverbackers are a dime a dozen if you are willing to give up size in run defense.