CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – If Andrew Berry keeps this up, he’s going to get his own statue.
Friday night Berry added Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, a player he contemplated selecting 26th overall Thursday night and was pleasantly surprised to see fall into Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Berry was able to grab Owusu-Koramoah in Round 2 after trading up with Carolina from 59 to 52.
“We were not really expecting him to get quite that far,” Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta said. “There were a couple players we were definitely interested in going into today that we thought it might be worth moving up to around 50 or thereabouts to try to go get if they were there, and once we saw that he got there, we were pretty aggressive in terms of trying to get up there and get him.”
It was fate.
“I was watching throughout the season last year,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “Believe it or not, I was actually picturing myself in this scheme as I was watching them play last year sitting down with one of my coaches from Notre Dame. It has just been a blessing to see everything come to fruition. I am looking forward to it. Words cannot explain.”
Berry also acquired a fourth rounder from Carolina – No. 113, while also giving up No. 89 in the fourth round. So, Cleveland moved up seven spots in Round 2 and all it cost was 22 spots in Round 3.
“We basically moved back from 89 to 113, but we felt like that was a reasonable cost to go up and secure the player,” DePodesta said.
Impressive.
NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah ranked Owusu-Koramoah as the No. 18, and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had him the No. 15 overall prospect in the draft.
Owusu-Koramoah, is the eighth defensive player added this offseason and second in this draft, was named the 2020 Butkus award winner as the nation’s top linebacker and was an All-American.
“He is certainly very versatile,” DePodesta said. “I know there has been talk that he could play strong safety or do lots of different things. I actually just think that speaks to his athleticism and his versatility. But again, I think he fits our scheme perfectly at the linebacker spot and that is where we would plan to plan.”
Last season Owusu-Koramoah had 62 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, an interception and four passes defensed in 12 games for the Fighting Irish.
What does the newest Browns love and enjoy most about the game?
“Tackling. Tackling is what makes the money,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “Tackling is what gets the defense off of the field and gets the offense off of the field. Tackling is something I love to do. Whether it is a hard hit, whether it is a wrap-and-roll hit or whether it is a certain technical hit, I like tackling.
That is what the game is about and that is what I am here for.”