CLEVELAND (AP) — The Browns traded up seven spots in the second round to select versatile Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah with the No. 52 overall pick in the NFL draft on Friday night.
Cleveland dealt the No. 59 pick and one of its two third-round selections (No. 89) to Carolina to slide up and get Owusu-Koramoah, who had been expected to go much higher but may have been bypassed because of his size.
He may be only 6-foot-1, but Owusu-Koramoah made plays all over the field for the Fighting Irish. He can rush the passer, cover receivers and make tackles from sideline to sideline. Owusu-Koramoah had 142 tackles and seven sacks in two seasons.
“He fits our scheme perfectly,” said Paul DePodesta, the team’s chief strategy officer.
The 21-year-old is the latest addition to Cleveland’s defense, which has been almost completely remade this offseason through free agency and this draft.
The Browns also received the No. 113 pick in the deal with Carolina.
On Thursday night, with Cleveland at center stage as host of this year’s draft, the Browns drafted Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome II with the No. 26 pick. Newsome’s selection gives the defense needed depth in its secondary, and the ultra-confident 20-year-old is expected to compete for a starting job with Greedy Williams this summer.
After he was picked, Newsome was contacted by Williams, who continues to recover from a nerve injury in his shoulder that kept him out last season.
“That just tells you who Greedy is as a person,” said Newsome. “I don’t know him, but he’s a guy who just wants the best for the team. He’ll do whatever he can do for the team to win and that’s definitely somebody I want to connect to.”