2021 NFL Draft: Speed kills and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is proof
By Seth Steere
The speed of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will be attractive in the 2021 NFL Draft
The days of the 260-pound linebacker whose one job is to stop the run are now a thing of the past. The NFL is constantly changing and adapting and with the pass-heavy offenses that have taken the league by storm, teams are now looking for linebackers who can play fast and not be a liability in coverage. In the 2021 NFL Draft, Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah seems to be following that trend.
More and more we are starting to see linebackers weighing in less than 240-pounds; in the last three years of the draft, the first linebacker selected has weighed under the 240-pound mark — Roquan Smith (236 pounds) in 2019, Devin White in 2019 (237 pounds), and Isaiah Simmons (230 pounds) this last year. Another attribute these three shared is their speed. Smith was the slowest of the bunch running a 4.51 and Simmons the fastest, running the 40 in 4.39 seconds.
Clearly the NFL is adapting to the way they view the position and they no longer have as much need for the thumping linebacker who lives and dies between the tackles. With that in mind, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah of Notre Dame is exactly what the NFL is looking for.
Matt Valdovinos of Pro Football Network sees Owusu-Koramoah as a top-10 linebacker entering the 2020 season:
"“The next great hybrid player, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah blurs the line between linebacker and safety. Notre Dame was as comfortably lining him up in the slot as they were rushing him off the edge. A Swiss-army-knife, his blend of length at 6’1″ and speed make his floor tremendous” (Valdovinos via PFN)."
Before Owusu-Koramoah is referred to as a linebacker by everyone, however, he may need to add some weight to his frame. Currently listed at 216-pounds, it may be tough for some to view him as a true linebacker as opposed to a sub-package player. Already a pretty stout player at the point-of-attack he shouldn’t need to add too much weight, but it would certainly benefit his 2021 NFL Draft stock to do so.