KC Chiefs: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is an immediate contributor on defense
The KC Chiefs would have to be thrilled if they could land Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah with the No. 31 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Linebacker is a need for the Kansas City Chiefs and they address it in Ryan Wilson’s latest mock draft on CBS Sports with Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who can play both linebacker and safety. Here’s why Wilson picked Owusu-Koramoah for the Chiefs,
"The Chiefs need to upgrade the offensive line, but with players already off the board the Chiefs bolster the defense with Owusu-Koramoah, who weighed 221 at his pro day and whose future could either be at linebacker or safety."
The versatility here is definitely appealing. The Chiefs would likely use the Fighting Irish defender as a linebacker more often than not due to their strong need for the position, but being able to move him around on the gridiron is something Steve Spagnuolo would cherish.
The Chiefs hoped to have this kind of player when they spent a 2018 third-round pick on Dorian O’Daniel, but that never came to fruition, unfortunately.
As Wilson mentioned, the Chiefs certainly need to boost their offensive line early in the draft, but if there aren’t players worth taking No. 31 overall, reaching for someone who doesn’t fit the scheme or isn’t worthy of a first-round pick would be stupid. Owusu-Koramoah is more than worthy of going No. 31 overall and is someone Kansas City could immediately plug into their defense.
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is the kind of versatile defender the KC Chiefs need.
If the Chiefs can’t land one of the better tackle options in the 2021 NFL Draft, then linebacker is probably the next position to zero in on. Nick Bolton has been a popular name amongst Chiefs fans, likely due to him playing college ball at Missouri, but Owusu-Koramoah would bring a versatile defender to Kansas City that this team hasn’t had in quite some time.
Wilson did two rounds in this mock draft and had the team addressing their offensive line woes in round two, selecting Kendrick Green out of Illinois with pick No. 63. Green is someone who the Chiefs would probably look to develop at center, so this certainly wouldn’t be a bad pick, though he probably doesn’t play much in 2021.
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These two players would have different impacts in 2021 for the Chiefs, as Owusu-Koramoah would immediately see playing time while Green would likely ride the bench as a rookie. Still, sometimes drafting developmental players early on is a smart move and the Kansas City Chiefs will need a center in 2022, so it’d be hard to fault them for this pick, especially in round two.