Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah's path to growth is through growth in strength

BEREA — Browns linebackers coach Jason Tarver understands it if Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had some frustration creep in by the end of his second season.

"OK, so I spoke about it at the end of the year a little bit," Tarver said after Thursday's minicamp conclusion. "Jeremiah had two very similar years, made some plays and then went on (injured reserve) towards the end of the year. Ended up playing about the same amount of snaps."

Owusu-Koramoah followed up a 14-game rookie season in 2021 with an 11-game second season last year. The former second-round pick out of the University of Notre Dame battled a knee injury that cost him two games in the middle of the season before a sprained foot late in a Week 14 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals cost him the last four games when he was placed on injured reserve.

The 23-year-old's numbers have been similar across his first two NFL seasons: 76 tackles as a rookie followed by 70 a year ago. His 45 solo stops last year came on the heels of a rookie season in which he made 49 such tackles.

However, both seasons fell short of what the Browns say they think Owusu-Koramoah can provide. That's because injuries befell him both times, costing him opportunities to add to his totals.

So now, as Owusu-Koramoah heads into his third season, he does so at a crossroads of sorts. Tarver said there's a path he needs to take to make sure he's able to maximize his potential.

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"Where does he need to go?" Tarver said. "He needs to continue to develop his body, especially in this little off time. He's got a nice window right now that if he takes care of business, he can get his body to play game zero, the extra preseason game, then however many of those we get it, then 17-plus because that's the goal. So that's his challenge now is to be able to be a productive pro and know the scheme so well that he gets to stay on the field."

What did Tarver say Owusu-Koramoah needs to do to achieve that goal? It starts with getting bigger.

The third-year pro is listed at 221 pounds on the Browns roster. That's the exact weight at which he was listed when they traded up to pick him in the second round at No. 52 overall in what many saw in the moment as a steal.

Tarver said part of the maturation for Owusu-Koramoah is to bulk up more in order to handle the rigors that come with playing linebacker.

"Stronger, just stronger, just continuous progression," Tarver said. "So it's be as big as you can and as fast as you can. … So he just needs to get really strong so he can explode through blockers and those things that he does really well because he will hit you. But it's the strength to be able to do it play in and play out."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah's path to growth is through more strength