Prince Amukamara CB, Nebraska – 6-0, 200
Prince Amukamara photo courtesy of cdn.bleacherreport.net
2009: 64 TCK, 3 TFL, 11 PBU, 5 INT
2010: 13 TCK, 4 PBU
POSITIVES:
- very agile
- fluid hips
- good balance/body control
- willing tackler
- very quick with burst
- aggressive at line of scrimmage
- has good hand check and knocks receivers off of routes
- great ball skills
- good in man-to-man coverage and bump and run coverage
- flips hips well to turn and run with receiver
- can stop on a dime
- great instincts
- good at jumping routes
- good in run support and has good recognition of when to stop covering receiver and go stop the run
- good recovery speed when receiver’s route is at short distances
- has size to handle big receivers
NEGATIVES:
- needs better recovery speed against receivers going deep
- good but not elite straight line speed for a top CB
- only full-time started junior and senior years
- didn’t have to cover for long due to great d-line, so he’ll have to prove he can do it without super elite defensive line
- looks like pad level a little high in backpedal sometimes
Projection: Top 15
SUMMARY: Amukamara earned a preseason 7.3 grade from National (scouting service to NFL teams), which was one of the top grades given this past summer. Was his junior year a product of having that great defensive line that featured the number two overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft Ndamukong Suh? Or was it a true showing of just how talented he is? Well, so far he’s shown that it wasn’t from the help he got from a great line in front of him. He has 4 pass break ups in the first 3 games. Teams may be shying away from throwing near him too often. He needs to continue to improve and solidify his status as one of the best prospects for the 2011 Draft.