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Scouting Report: The Nebraska Cornhuskers Prince Amukamara is one of only a handful of truly elite football players in this draft. When you have a draft minus an obvious No. 1 franchise QB, an elite coverage player like Amukamara is going to be in high demand early in the draft. Physically he's almost a clone of fellow CB Patrick Peterson, being only slightly shorter. But their games are very similar as well. He's a supremely confident player with a high football IQ. The game seems slow to him, which is a sign of a guy who's very smart on the field. He's strong in zone coverage, but doesn't have the best anticipation, which at times results in giving up a big play. Does a good job in press man, a spot I expect to see him in a lot in the NFL. Very fluid athlete, keeps his hips low and turns and chases late which is a good thing. He does have a tendency to bite on double moves, but has good recovery quickness and speed when he does.
Draft Status: At this point, Amukamara is the No. 2 CB to most all pundits but that still puts him firmly in the top part of the first round. I am going to be very curious to see if he can pull off an elite offseason and actually surpass Peterson. I don't think it'll happen, but if it should, he'll see himself firmly in the top 5 of the first round.
Final Analysis: I have to say that while Peterson and Amukamara grade out very close, for my money Amukamara gives up too many big plays to be in the same class. He's got better ball skills than Peterson, as he uses great leaping and an uber aggressive nature to go after the football every chance he gets. That's going to mean big plays for and against him. I like his run support as he's a very smart player and uses good fundamentals in the run game. He's a nice tackler but nothing to write home about. I think his future is as a starting press man corner, one who's going to get shook by smaller quicker wide outs at times, and out muscled by bigger wide outs. I'd love to see him with some elite speed, to help make up for some of that.
Reminds me of: Tramon Williams CB Green Bay Packers - Williams goes hard after the football like Amukamara does. Similar physical bodies, and while Williams has been later round pick who became a nice surprise, Amakumara is going to come on the scene as a much more known commodity and probably start earlier.
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Scouting Report written by Curt Popejoy |
