Countdown to kickoff: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State is only six days away

To preview one of the most anticipated games for Notre Dame this century and the official start of the Marcus Freeman era, BlueandGold.com is counting down the days to the matchup against Ohio State on Sept. 3.

This daily series of 99 stories celebrates by the numbers some of the most notable names, dates, moments and memories related to the past and present of Notre Dame football. 

Today, with seven days remaining until kickoff, we look at the abridged but impactful career of Irish star linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who donned the No. 6 jersey for Notre Dame from 2017-20 and became a second-round NFL Draft pick.

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Owusu-Koramoah admits that even while his NFL career blossoms as a second-year player in Cleveland, he’ll never feel whole again after what happened last April.

In news that shook Owusu-Koramoah to his core, his 23-year-old brother, Joshua, was found murdered in his Hampton, Va., home. 

Joshua, who worked as a high school science teacher, had recently graduated from William & Mary where he was a chemistry major and a reserve linebacker.

Jeremiah often credited his older brother with introducing him to football, and keeping him interested in the unfamiliar game.  Without Joshua’s guidance, Jeremiah believes he never would’ve played football and pursued a future in basketball instead. 

“Definitely very influential in terms of the football aspects,” Jeremiah said of his brother in a story for Cleveland.com. “Just in terms of the physicality, in terms of the toughness, in terms of persistence, even when sometimes I didn’t feel like playing football.”

If any good news came out of this tragic story, an arrest was made in Joshua’s murder about a month after his passing. 

Late bloomer

An Irish scout team player as a freshman in 2017 and only a two-game participant in 2018 because of a foot injury, Jeremiah became an afterthought through his first two seasons at Notre Dame.

Rated as only a three-star recruit by most services and barely a top-350 player nationally, the Virginia native didn’t necessarily bring lofty expectations to South Bend.

That is, until he busted onto the scene by winning the starting rover job as a junior in 2019, then tied for the team lead that season with 80 tackles. 

A year later as a senior in 2020, Owusu-Koramoah won the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker, and earned unanimous All-American honors. In 25 games over two seasons as an Irish starter, he recorded 142 total tackles, with 96 solo stops and 24.5 tackles for loss. 

Standing 6-foot-2 and 221 pounds, Owusu-Koramoah is a rare three-in-one talent who can play at the line of scrimmage, in the box, or in the slot/flat in pass coverage. The Virginia native also tallied 7.0 sacks, forced 5 fumbles and added 4 fumble recoveries in 2021 during his magical senior season. 

Things get interesting

Projected as a sure first-round pick in 2021, Owusu-Koramoah dropped to the second round when the rumor of a heart ailment began circulating late in the draft process.

The Cleveland Browns jumped at the chance to snag a first-round player with their second-round pick, and traded up seven spots to select Owusu-Koramoah No. 52 overall.

Browns top talent evaluator, Paul DePodesta, later celebrated the pick.

“He’s very, very good against both the run and the pass,” DePodesta said of his rookie linebacker. “We think he can stay on the field the whole time. He really just fits our scheme to a T.”

When NFL training camps opened last month, popular belief around the league was that no player was ready for a second-year surge more than Owusu-Koramoah.

Despite missing three games in 2021 because of injury and a bout with COVID-19, he still tallied 76 tackles with 1.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles over 14 games and 10 starts as a rookie. 

Already being called the “steal” of the 2021 draft, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah landed on the Pro Football Focus All-Rookie Team after last season. 

Presumably, he would’ve made a run for Defensive Rookie of the Year if not for the three missed games.