Cleveland Browns: JOK not looking like ‘Full-time LB’ in 2021

The Cleveland Browns get to hit another team (or at least the second-string will) when Kevin Stefanski’s team gets the Jacksonville Jaguars and new head coach Urban Meyer.

While the lead-up to the game has all the excitement of a mid-2000s season finale against Pittsburgh, the die hards will unquestionably be watching how Cleveland’s reserves play as they seek significant playing time and/or a job in 2021.

One position worth watching will be the linebacking corps. Mack Wilson, once regarded as a bubble player during offseason pundit diatribes, looks like a sure thing for a spot on the roster at the WILL position.

Free-agent acquisition Anthony Walker, now healthy, will play the MIKE while Sione Takitaki figures to play prominently at the SAM (strong side).

That leaves second-round pick Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as the odd man out.

Surely, JOK will have a roster spot, but Pro Football Focus predicted to him to start, which I found surprising, considering what I had been hearing about his size (or lack there of) when compared to other NFL linebackers on the roster.

Now, ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi doesn’t see him starting either. The fact JOK missed the first week of camp with COVID certainly didn’t help his chances, but here’s what the long-time writer said, via TheLandondDemand.com (23:10).

"“I don’t see JOK as a full-time linebacker, I’m sorry. Not as a rookie. He’s the Demetric Felton of defense, a utility player who you could put in a spot here, a spot there…but as a conventional 4-3 linebacker, gosh, I don’t see it, as a rookie.”"

Grossi added that he believes defensive coordinator Joe Woods will find ways to use the Notre Dame product, it just won’t be as an every down player, at least in his first year.

A lot of Browns fans will be disappointed by this kind of talk, but perhaps it helps explain why JOK, a lock for the first round by everyone and their grandmother in the lead-up to the draft, fell not just out of the first round, but all the way to No. 52.

More than one member of the media has questioned his size standing next to defensive backs, staring when JOK reported to OTAs earlier in the summer.

JOK is listed at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. The Browns obviously knew. his measurables during the draft, but still thought enough to trade up in the second round to acquire him.

Don’t forget, JOK is fast, and speed was noticeably lacking on the field for Cleveland’s defense last season.

If it takes a season to become a full-time player, so be it. He can still be a playmaker, even if it’s in spots, when the ball’s kicked off on 2021.