Scouting Report: Nebraska Cornerback Prince Amukamara

When it comes to talking about NFL draft prospects at the cornerback position, two stand out amongst the others: LSU’s Patrick Peterson and Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara. This scouting report focuses on Amukamara, a cornerback who could arguably become known as the best corner taken in this class when all is said and done.  The 6’0”, 206 lbs. corner was named one of the three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back, following the 2010 season. Also following this past season, he was named first-team All-American and won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, voted by the conference’s coaches. For his career, Amukamara has recorded 155 tackles along with 5 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. Here is a closer look at him in terms of what he does best as well as some of his flaws.

Strengths

Diagnosing the Play

This skill is the first one I noticed when watching Amukamara on tape. Many times I saw receivers try to run a slant or 10-yard in route with Amukamara guarding him one-on-one and he would diagnose it and break on the ball to force an incompletion or intercept the pass. He has tremendous football instincts; he can read what a receiver is doing three steps into his route. This is not limited to defending the pass either. Amukamara is quick to come up and help at the line of scrimmage the moment he reads run. Against Baylor, the Bears tried to run a reverse back to Amukamara’s side of the field. While most of the offense went to the right, he stayed home and was in position to make the play on the runner and stop him for a minimal gain.

Acceleration After Receiver Makes His Cut

On the few plays that I saw Amukamara lose a step on a receiver during breaks on the route, he made up for it with his acceleration. As I just talked about, many receivers would test him on the inside shoulder with slants and in routes. At times Amukamara will take one extra step in his backpedal and give the receiver too much cushion. However, his acceleration is better than most prospects I have watched and he uses it to make up for that lost step. In many instances it looked like a receiver would be able to pick up an easy gain with the room he had in the middle of the field but Amukamara would fly in and break up the pass.

Pressing the Receiver at the Line of Scrimmage

In order to even have a chance to play cornerback in the National Football League, a player must be able to legitimately jam a receiver at the line, and that is one of Amukamara’s strong suits. He effectively gets his hands inside on a receiver right off the snap of the ball and has the ability to re-route the receiver due to his physical play. This ability also helps him throw off the timing off the receiver getting into his route and that can cause confusion between him and his quarterback.

Weaknesses

Shedding Blocks in Run Support

While he has no problem throwing his body into the middle of a play to help in run support, Amukamara at times has problems getting off of single blocks. Receivers or tight ends who get outside can effectively engage him and keep him out of the play. I would like to see him be more physical in shedding blocks. He has the habit of extending his arms into a blocker but not using them to rip away from him. If this doesn’t improve, NFL offenses could use outside runs and pitches aimed at his side in order to take advantage of this flaw.

Tackling with Proper Technique

Amukamara is not the most physical tackler down the field against bigger running backs or receivers. While he is not afraid to take deliver a blow on the ball carrier, often times he tries to wrap up too high and it results in a few extra yards for the runner or a missed tackle. Against those bigger runners, he sometimes will only attempt to arm tackle and not fully wrap up. He needs to improve on getting lower and tackling at the waist or hip. Amukamara will be asked to tackle much more physical receivers and running backs in the NFL, so this is one aspect of his game that he will need to improve on.

Makeup Quickness Off the Line of Scrimmage

While I talked about jamming the receiver being one of Amukamara’s strengths earlier, he can at times get beat by a receivers first step off the line when he is lined up to press.  He will go after a receivers inside shoulder at the line but will lose him when the receiver takes a hard step outside towards the sideline. This causes him to be out of position and he does not have elite makeup quickness to catch up. Nebraska liked to play man coverage with Amukamara, hence more opportunities for this to happen. I would like to see him show more fluidity in instances of him being out of position after the first step off the line of scrimmage.

Draft Range: Top 10-15 Pick

NFL Comparison: Vontae Davis, Miami Dolphins