Notre Dame Football: The Top 5 – Ranking 2020’s Most Impactful Players
By Andrew Hall
3. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Best Ranking: No. 1
Worst Ranking: No. 5
Arguably Notre Dame’s most physically impressive player will attempt to build on his tremendous Camping World Bowl performance where he finished with 3 sacks and 1 forced fumble.
His 2019 season drew the praise from NFL Draft gurus. In many 2021 mock drafts, Owusu-Koramoah was listed as a first-rounder. In 2019, “Wu” finished with 80 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 4 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles. At the beginning of the season, he was struggling with run fits and how to line up. By the end of the year, Owusu-Koramoah was the best player on the Irish defense.
Aside from Kyle Hamilton, no other player faces higher expectations in 2020 than Owusu-Koramoah. As demonstrated by the Camping World Bowl, he can single handedly change the complexion of a game.
How will Owusu-Koramoah be utilized this season? Similar to Jaylon Smith, a strange paradox arises. Is it better to use those players in coverage or as pass rushers? If you are former Defensive Coordinator Brian VanGorder, you only use that player in coverage. Clark Lea has proven to be much more innovative and will probably use a combination of Owusu-Koramoah’s talents. In tandem with our No. 2, Notre Dame’s third down defense should be one of the best in the country.