Heading to the 2021 NFL Draft, Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was initially seen as one of the top defensive players in this year's rookie class. He was even expected to be selected in the first round. However, concerns about his heart's status appeared to make teams hesitant on picking him early. The Virginia native continued to slide down until he landed on the Cleveland Browns with the 52nd pick in the second round. Amid all the rumors about his health, Owusu-Koramoah eventually cleared the air and claimed that he is in healthy condition upon entering his rookie season.

Per The Jim Rome Show via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com:

“You get news,’' he told Rome. “You get a lot of news within the draft and the process you’re going through. There was something that came up in terms of what guys were saying, but in terms of me, in terms of the personal aspect there were no really heart issues at all. There was nothing that was too ticked off and we went back to Notre Dame and looked at the medical records and everything.”

“I never really had any heart issues or anything going on there. You know, you hear a lot of things, but you’ve got to get it from the source.’'

The swirling speculations didn't hinder Browns general manager Andrew Berry from trading up seven spots with the Carolina Panthers just to select Owusu-Koramoah whom he believes will become a great player for them in the future.

“There’s really nothing in his background that would suggest he can’t have a nice, long career,’' Berry told The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima on 92.3 The Fan.

Owusu-Koramoah had a breakout campaign in his junior season. That year, he racked up 80 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles for the Fighting Irish. In his senior year, he eventually became the winner of the Butkus Award, a unanimous All-American, and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

Despite the occurrences during the draft, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah still landed in a good spot as he is expected to contribute to a Browns side that showed a lot of promise in the 2020 season. Hopefully, he will get to have a productive rookie campaign and prove to the rest of the league that they made a mistake passing up on him in the draft.