Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JUNE/JULY 2021 49 Alabama, on the other hand, pro- duced six first-round draftees in 2021 and had a total of eight go in the first 38 picks — all before Notre Dame had a single player come off the board. Heading into the draft, however, most analysts and NFL mock drafts projected Notre Dame linebacker Jer- emiah Owusu-Koramoah to go in the first round, with many even seeing him as a potential top-15 to top-20 selection. He, instead, fell well into the sec- ond round before the Cleveland Browns traded up to take him with the No. 52 overall pick. The Browns were actually a team many expected to take Owusu-Koramoah in the first round, but Cleveland ended up opt- ing for Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome with the No. 26 over- all pick instead. This, in reality, turned out to be a shrewd move by the Browns, who wound up adding perhaps one of the most electric players in the draft with a mid-second-round pick. "We talk so much about playmak- ers on offense," Kelly said. "[Cleve- land Browns defensive coordinator] Joe Woods is going to get a guy on defense that he can really put into a number of different situations, whether it's a linebacker situation, a nickel situation, at safety. "He's a guy that gives them so much flexibility with him on the field. At the end of the day, he finds the football." With his plummet down draft boards, Owusu-Koramoah joins Manti Te'o (2009-12) and Jaylon Smith (2013-15) as the third Fighting Irish player to win the Butkus Award as the best college linebacker, only to land in the second round. The last Notre Dame linebacker to go in the first round was Bob Crable, with the No. 23 overall pick by the New York Jets in 1982. So why did a player of Owusu- Koramoah's magnitude undergo such a drastic fall? ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that a heart issue came up in the medical evaluations. " D o c t o r s u l t i m a t e l y c l e a re d O w u s u - K o r a m o a h , " S c h e f t e r tweeted, "but it did contribute to him falling." Per Spotrac's rookie wage scale, Owusu-Koramoah's contract will be worth an estimated $6,476,215 and includes a $2.1 million signing bonus. THREE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN GO ON DAY TWO In the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft, three Notre Dame of- fensive linemen were selected. Tackle Liam Eichenberg was the first Fighting Irish lineman off the board, going No. 42 overall to Miami Dolphins in the second round. Guard Aaron Banks went six picks later at No. 48 to the San Francisco 49ers. In the third round, the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked tackle/guard Robert Hainsey at No. 95. Thus, the Irish became the first program in 20 years to have three of- fensive linemen go in the first three rounds of the same NFL Draft. Michi- gan was the last team to do so in 2001. Prior to that, such a feat hadn't been accomplished since Penn State in 1982. In the last eight NFL Drafts, nine Notre Dame offensive linemen were top-100 selections and seven were among the top 50 picks. So much success in the draft has only further cemented the program's status as "Offensive Line U" — the team best known for producing blocking talent. Combined, this trio started 106 games at Notre Dame and played 7,536 snaps. Per Spotrac, each will receive a four-year contract with Eichenberg's deal worth the most at roughly $8 million, followed by Banks at just more than $7 million and Hainsey at $4.8 million. TOMMY TREMBLE GOES TO 'A REALLY GOOD SITUATION' Of all the Notre Dame players to declare for the 2021 NFL Draft, tight end Tommy Tremble was the young- est and the one with the most un- tapped potential. Serving as the second-string tight end behind Cole Kmet as a sopho- more in 2019, Tremble flashed po- tential as a dynamic weapon in the red zone. He averaged 11.4 yards per catch that season. Once Kmet left for the NFL, most With Liam Eichenberg (No. 42 overall), Aaron Banks (No. 48) and Robert Hainsey (No. 95) being selected on day two, Notre Dame became the first school in 20 years to have three offensive linemen taken in the first three rounds of the same NFL Draft. GRAPHIC COURTESY MIAMI DOLPHINS