Cleveland Browns: Stop calling Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah a linebacker, he’s so much more

The Cleveland Browns rookie ‘linebacker’ is, in fact, not one of those

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was introduced as a linebacker when he was drafted. Both general manager Andrew Berry and  Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodseta raved about JOK’s fit in the Cleveland Browns defense as a WILL linebacker. But, to quote (former) friend of the site Grand Moff Tarkin, “if saying it would only make it so”.

There are multiple problems with labeling Owusu-Koramoah a linebacker. First, he isn’t one. He doesn’t do LB things. He lined up primarily in the slot for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, moving around the box and doing pretty much everything except lining up between the tackles and taking on blockers.

He’d cover running backs out of the backfield, blitz around the edge to apply pressure, delay his rush up the middle so he’s kept clean, handle tight ends and wide receivers in man coverage, and make stops in pursuit.

When he was actually touched by offensive linemen, he’d get bodied out of the play. He just isn’t big or strong enough to engage with linemen, much less stack and shed blocks. His impact as a true linebacker is predicated on using his superior quickness to beat blockers to spots and make them miss; this is much more difficult to do in the NFL where the linemen are bigger, faster, and longer. The only time when Owusu-Koramoah actually touched an offensive lineman is when he was blitzing, which he is very good at.

He’s 6-1 and 215 pounds, resembling a big safety much more than a linebacker. If you were to consider him an LB, he’d be the smallest in the entire NFL, giving up six pounds to Jatavis Brown while having two inches on the Philadelphia Eagle. Jacob Phillips was considered light for the WILL spot when the Browns took him 97th overall last year, and while he is 6-3, he has over 15 pounds on Owusu-Koramoah. Grant Delpit is listed at an almost identical weight (albeit with two extra inches), and played 75% as many box snaps as JOK did in college, yet Delpit is never talked about as a linebacker.

No one is treating JOK as a between-the-tackles MIKE, but even WILLs play tight quite a bit and have to take on linemen getting to the second level, in-line tight ends, and pullers. That is not Owusu-Koramoah’s game, and it never should or will be.

Second, calling him an LB takes away from the uniquely versatile talent that he is. Not only is he an elite athlete no matter which position you’re comparing him to, but he’s an incredibly cerebral player. He reacts quickly to his keys and has a great understanding of formations and tendencies, and is extremely instinctive in coverage.

So if he’s not a linebacker, and he’s not a safety, what exactly is he then? He is all of these things, and yet he is nothing. The official explanation for why he fall all the way from a potential top-15 pick to 52nd overall is that a heart issue came up pre-draft, but he was cleared of it, before the draft.

Not adding up. The more likely explanation is that most teams were worried about JOK the player. Despite his elite physical traits and uniquely rare skillset, most teams are not ready to adopt the modern positionless defense, seeing JOK as a tweener who wasn’t big enough to play linebacker full-time (true) yet not quick enough to be a safety (false).

Owusu-Koramoah is neither a linebacker nor a safety. He is much closer to a safety, but not quite. He’s a ROVER, a Joker, a box defender, a hang defender, a defensive weapon, whatever you want to call him. But his role is not that of a linebacker, no matter how much some fans wanted to sink capital into one. He should not be deployed as one, because, to put it bluntly, that would be a tremendous waste of his talent.

JOK should be moving around the field doing different things against the pass and making an impact against the run as a pursuit defender. He’s so explosive and instinctive, and should be able to use his physical gifts to their fullest extent.

He does that by playing the side of the field where most of the skill players are; where the ball is most likely to go. He is more than adept in coverage and blitzing; if quarterbacks don’t know what he’ll be doing on a given play, their jobs will be all the more difficult with the other versatile defenders in the secondary.

If he is placed between the tackles and forced to engage with offensive linemen, and even tight ends, his impact on the game is going to be a fraction of what it otherwise could be.

If he’s used in the same role as he was in college, he’s going to be a spectacular player who makes a massive impact for this Cleveland defense. Just not as a linebacker. If the Browns truly have drafted him to play a different role than what he did in college, one that minimizes his strengths and amplifies his weaknesses, then they must have some pretty crazy foresight.

Defensive coordinator Joe Woods wants to eventually run a dime base defense, which would feature six defensive backs on the field. This leaves just one linebacker, and on passing downs, this can be JOK, because the offense likely wouldn’t be running the ball, and Owusu-Koramoah can match up any of the skill players effectively, as well as provide some speed to chase the quarterback if he were to somehow get outside the pocket. When has that ever happened?

If you must call Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah a linebacker to help you sleep at night, then go ahead. Just don’t be surprised when he isn’t playing that role in September, and the Browns defense is all the better for it.