Give Owusu-Koramoah a chance to breathe

By STEVE KING

Why didn’t I grade the Browns’ performance in the NFL Draft?

Because this is what happens when you do.

There is a piece circulating about Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, whom the Browns traded up in the second round to draft on Saturday. It calls him “a game-changer” “an explosive force,” the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Cleveland since the days of Jamir Miller and Chip Banks.

Uh, excuse me, was Clay Matthews chopped liver? What about him? He is, after all, the only non-Pro Football Hall of Famer who is on the Browns Ring of Honor at FirstEnergy Stadium, which, in itself, is another story for another time.

Anyway, let’s say – no, let’s shout, at the top of our lungs, with all the gusto we can muster — “Whoa! Pump the brakes, will ya?!”

Owusu-Koramoah looks like he will be a fine player, but to give him praise like that before he ever participates in a practice is reckless, irresponsible, silly, overblown, unprofessional, ignorant, hurtful, embarrassing, disrespectful to all parties involved, sophomoric and … well, just plain wrong. Other than that, it’s a great idea.

We live in a world where, with everything, we want instant answers, instant storylines and quick, cut-to-the-chase determinations. We want life to be like a TV sitcom where the answer comes in 30 minutes. It just doesn’t happen that way, and certainly not with football players and the draft.

There needs to be ebb and flows, ups and downs and maturation and development. There needs to be mistakes, a learning process and then hopefully successes.

And there needs to be a little – or at lot – of luck. Injuries can ruin everything.

Let’s give Owusu-Koramoah a chance to breathe and go all through things without immediately giving him a lofty, perhaps even impossible-to-live-up-to label that is daunting and not reasonable at this point.

That is, let’s allow him the time to develop into the best player that he can be, whatever, whenever and however that is. There’s no need to rush.

And then, if at some point down the road, there can be legitimate comparisons to former Browns greats, then so be it. But not now, please. It’s not the time nor the place.