Notre Dame Football’s End of Season Superlatives: Breakout Player

A lot of players burst onto the scene for Notre Dame football in 2019, but one guy really left his mark on the program.

We have a separate category for Notre Dame newcomers, so don’t expect Kyle Hamilton on this list — but he would be very deserving if eligible. However, many other players are also worthy of mention.

When our writers came out with the preseason list, votes went out to Michael Young, Jafar Armstrong, Jack Lamb and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (JOK). Only one of those guys stayed consistent with our end of season voting. When the mid-season voting came out, JOK remained a constant, while Drew White and Jonathan Doerer also received mention. Now that the regular season is over, the preseason and mid-season favorite also won out in the end.

Breakout Player: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (5 of 7 votes)

Others receiving votes: Drew White, Braden Lenzy. 

JOK was a beast for Notre Dame this year, and only got better as the year wore on. Taking over at the popular ROVER spot in Clark Lea’s defense takes a special type of athlete and the red-shirt sophomore linebacker stepped right in and flashed.

JOK was the first guy the staff really pursued after taking over late in 2016 to play the ROVER spot, and it at least currently he looks like a perfect fit. At the time of the Elko/Lea hiring, JOK was a high 3-star prospect committed to Virginia, but once Notre Dame stepped in, that quickly changed. He would end up pledging to the Irish staff on National Signing Day — and the rest is history.

This year, Owusu-Koramoah finished 3rd on the team in total tackles behind White and Bilal, but all three were between 70-75 tackles. JOK would also finish second on the team, behind Khalid Kareem, in tackles for loss while creating 2.5 sacks — the most from the linebacker position.

To be quite honest, this award could go to any of the three Irish linebackers — as a perceived weakness of the team coming out of the Louisville, linebacker was one of the biggest strengths by season’s end.

White and Bilal were terrific, but there was just something about watching JOK that stuck out. The crack of a gigantic hit or his closing speed while attacking the line of scrimmage or going sideline-to-sideline just looked different. He has fans excited for the next few years before he takes his special traits to the NFL as a hybrid linebacker the league covets in today’s game.

JOK might not be the next Te’o, Smith or even Tranquill, but he takes over the next line of great linebacker play in a Notre Dame uniform.