Notre Dame Football: Is Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah being undervalued?
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame Football team will see Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah likely go in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but is he being undervalued?
We are inching ever so close to the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, a draft that could see as many as ten members of the Notre Dame Football team selected. The prospects coming out this year range in terms of draft slot quite a bit, but one certainty is that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is going to land in the first round.
Where JOK lands is another story, and as we take a look around some of the latest mock drafts, we are starting to see a common theme. While some have said that JOK could go as high as No. 9 to the Denver Broncos, many other mock drafts are slating him well into the second half of the first round, which I believe is undervaluing his talent.
In today’s NFL, being able to cover is paramount, even when it comes to linebackers, and Owusu-Koramoah is elite in that respect. In addition, he also is a hybrid-type player who can shift to safety if need be, making him a rare commodity in this draft class.
Notre Dame Football star the most versatile LB in this class
As we said earlier, JOK is an incredibly versatile prospect, and that is what makes him stand out among the other linebackers in this draft class. Penn State’s Micah Parsons is widely considered the first linebacker to come off the board, but looking at JOK’s skill set, there is no reason why he is not going to be an elite player at the next level.
In fact, many would argue that his game plays better at the next level, as he is a three-down backer who is not going to be a mismatch on tight ends or even slot wideouts. He can cover anybody, as we saw during his time in South Bend.
I believe that JOK falling anywhere past the No. 17 overall pick, which belongs to the Las Vegas Raiders, is highly undervaluing what he is going to bring to an NFL franchise. This is a guy who may be a tweener in terms of size, but not in terms of ability, and if he falls into the late first-round, someone is getting an absolute steal.