Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 31, 2020 19 later, Ronnie Staley was selected with the sixth overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens. Then the San Francisco 49ers snagged Mike McGlinchey with the No. 9 overall pick in 2018. But how does Eichenberg compare to those who played the position be- fore him? "In some ways, he's a poor man's Mike McGlinchey," Wright said. "Cer- tainly, he's not that level prospect. I think he's going to be a day-two pick when all is said and done, whether that's the second or the third round. Last year, he was up and down." A red flag on his résumé after the 2019 season was Eichenberg was flagged 10 times — by far the most amongst Notre Dame players that season. In 2020, the Irish left tackle's false start against Louisville represents the lone penalty he has garnered four games into this season. Then again, McGlinchey had simi- lar motion snafus, leading to a "Mc- Flinchey" moniker among some in the fandom. Who's laughing now? IRISH LACK REPUTATION FOR LINEBACKER DEVELOPMENT As for Owusu-Koramoah, Wright agrees with Kiper and McShay that the rover is the team's highest-rated 2021 NFL Draft prospect. "He's exactly the type of linebacker and defensive playmaker teams are looking for these days," Wright said. "They don't want those between-the- tackle-box run thumpers anymore at linebacker. "They want those guys with speed and athleticism and the range, and they're willing to sacrifice some of the size for that. Owusu-Koramoah cer- tainly brings that to the table." When it comes to the linebacker position, Notre Dame doesn't exactly have a reputation of developing first- round talent. When looking at former Fighting Irish linebackers who played away from the line of scrimmage, only three have been drafted under Brian Kelly: Drue Tranquill, a fourth-round pick in 2019; Jaylon Smith, a second- round choice in 2016; and Manti Te'o, a second-rounder in 2013. You'd have to go all the way back to Bob Crable in the 1982 NFL Draft to find a Notre Dame linebacker who was selected in the first round. In fact, he's the only Fighting Irish linebacker to accomplish that feat. The knock on Owusu-Koramoah may be his weight. As a 6-2 rover in college, he's fine weighing 215 pounds — but NFL scouts may want to see that he can retain his explosiveness and agility after adding 10 pounds. "You'd like to see if he can bulk up a little bit, but maintaining that athleti- cism is going to be key because that's his calling card," Wright said. "That's something that's baked into the cake with his stock, too. "During the pre-draft process, he's going to be expected to run well, jump high, do all that athletic testing. … If he struggles with any of those, it would maybe be a little bit of a red flag." But Owusu-Koramoah isn't worried about his weight just yet or his NFL Draft stock. For now, he's committed to staying in the moment. "I talked to Coach [Clark] Lea and I've talked to Coach Kelly a lot about this — it's very important that I stay in the now," Owusu-Koramoah said. "Even with watching the [college award] finalist lists and things like that, it's very important that we continue to not worry about how my weight is now, and worry about how the team is doing now, worry about the overall development of our unit. "With all due respect, we are worry- ing about the now." ✦ Eichenberg is rated as the No. 8 offensive tackle in this draft class per ESPN's Todd McShay, and a likely second- or third-round draft pick according to Scott Wright of DraftCountdown.com. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS