Now that the Cleveland Browns have a new defensive coordinator in Jim Schwartz, it is time to start taking a look at the tape and seeing how the current personnel can fit his scheme and philosophy. Today, we take a look at linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and how his skillset translates under Schwartz. To do so, we take a look at current Tennessee Titans’ linebacker David Long Jr., who has a similar skillset to Owusu-Koramoah to see how he translates.
After watching Long’s games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, and Green Bay Packers, we break down what we may be able to anticipate out of Owusu-Koramoah in 2023.
Setting parameters on the comparison game between Titans and Browns
The obvious parameter to discuss here: yes, I am aware that Schwartz was not the defensive coordinator for the Titans in 2022. Shane Bowen ran the defense and Mike Vrabel is a defensive-minded head coach who has influence.
However, the Titans run a very similar scheme (outside of some variation with their fronts), and Schwartz’s input was evident this season. The Titans run a lot of Cover-1 and Cover-3, just as Schwartz does. The Titans were not big blitzers and opted to get home with four most often, just as Schwartz does.
So again, while the Browns will not completely mimic the Titans in 2023, there will be a great deal of overlap between what the two teams do. And what their linebackers will be asked to do.
The comparisons between David Long Jr. and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
For the size of the Browns’ linebackers being a huge (an unimportant) talking point, smaller linebackers across the league continue to make the most impact. The size of linebackers does not matter, and Long Jr. and Owusu-Koramoah are two examples of that.
Long Jr. is even smaller in height and comparable in weight. However, Owusu-Koramoah is a great deal more athletic, at least through combine testing numbers. Combine numbers are not the best metric, as Long Jr. is much more explosive on tape, but he did not test well during his pre-draft cycle. Across the board, Owusu-Koramoah tested as a better athlete.
Their play styles have a great deal of similarity as well. The role he played in Tennessee is as close of a mirror as we will get to what the Browns and Schwartz will ask of Owusu-Koramoah in 2023.
What David Long Jr. was asked to do in coverage in 2022
While Owusu-Koramoah has shown a bit of ability to use robot technique, turn and run, and feel out crossers behind him, he was not asked to backpedal a ton under former defensive coordinator Joe Woods. Owusu-Koramoah will be asked to backpedal a great deal more often in 2023 than he has throughout his career thus far.
Woods also opted to run Cover-3 and Cover-1 as his preference in coverage, just as Schwartz is going to do. However, Schwartz prefers to run a great deal more man coverage than the Browns have done over the past three seasons. With the lean toward more 11 personnel league-wide, David Long Jr. was asked to man up out wide against running backs in empty looks, and even tight ends in the slot.
Expect more of this from Owusu-Koramoah in 2023 rather than just sitting in the hook/curl zone or spying on opposing mobile quarterbacks.
JOK continues to be money at feeling out crossers behind him (also see ATL tape). 28 put together a fantastic football game on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/ENmosaIwjl
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) October 29, 2022
Long Jr.'s role feeds into strengths of Owusu-Koramoah's
One area where Owusu-Koramoah thrived in 2022 was his ability to get downhill and sideline-to-sideline in the blink of an eye. This comes in handy when asked to blitz or asked to spy on opposing quarterbacks as his ability to close the gap between him and the football in a hurry is a valuable asset for Schwartz to deploy.
Again, While the Titans did not blitz a ton in 2023 (less than Woods did and seventh least in the league), they did either like to disguise pressure by either bringing a fifth or replacing one-for-one by dropping someone else out with Long Jr. They even move fairly similar laterally when asked to get blockers back on their heels.
Coming off of a career year, Long Jr. showed the ability to get sideline-to-sideline at a high level. Owusu-Koramoah is even better at it. With some better defensive tackle play, the third-year linebacker could be staring at a career year in 2023.
Long Jr. was a run fit dream (granted he had better DTs in front of him)
Granted, the Titans have much better defensive linemen than the Browns did in 2022. So comparing how Long Jr. played in run support and when fitting the run to Owusu-Koramoah is not fair at all. However, Long Jr. was good at it. He stayed disciplined to his gap, showed a willingness to take on contact in his fit, and scraped toward ball carriers at a high level.
From the edge or from stacked in the box, Long remains in hot pursuit of ball carriers. Owusu-Koramoah has shown plenty of ability to shake linemen and avoid blocks, but if kept cleaner, ball carriers are in danger as the Browns look to improve their defensive interior.
JOK returned to elite-level football on Sunday. The man was all over the field. pic.twitter.com/iTEZF4uLDQ
— Cory (@realcorykinnan) November 30, 2022
Final thoughts
Overall, there are similarities that land, and some obvious differences between the game of Long Jr. and Owusu-Koramoah. However, while Long Jr. is not a good athlete on paper, they’re skillsets on the field provide a potential blueprint for how Schwartz and the Browns may deploy Owusu-Koramoah in 2023.
Owusu-Koramoah has already proven to be an elite downhill and sideline-to-sideline linebacker in pursuit of ball carriers. And with some improved defensive tackle play in front of him, Owusu-Koramoah can be an even better run defender for the Browns as he is rarely kept clean against the run.
There are some parts of his skillset, specifically in coverage, that Owusu-Koramoah will have to refine, but he should fit in like a glove and explode under Schwartz.
