3:35 a.m.
If Prince Amukamara feels burdened by the weight of lofty expectations, you'd never know it.
Well before he entered the 2010 season ranked as the country's top senior prospect by National Football Scouting, Amukamara had grown accustomed to the idea that greatness wasn't a standard to be attained, it was an expectation to live up to.
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Prince Amukamara says he has no doubts about his speed. (US Presswire) |
Prince Amukamara is bona fide royalty -- not just of the Playboy All-American variety.
His grandfather was the king of the Awo Omamma in Nigeria. His father, Romanus, took the title of "chief," so when he and his wife Christie had a son, "Prince" was the natural progression. Even more interesting to NFL scouts than Amukamara's royal bloodlines are his athletic bloodlines.
Romanus was an elite soccer player in Nigeria. Christie was a sprinter for Nigeria in the 1984 Olympics.
Prince will get his shot at the NFL-version of the Olympics in less than two weeks when he and roughly 300 other college prospects venture to Indianapolis for the annual Scouting Combine.
Amukamara did almost everything he could to confirm the faith of National Football Scouting by playing to the level projected in the top 2010 preseason grade. He was a consensus All-American despite recording zero interceptions. But Amukamara declined an invitation to attend the Senior Bowl. He has been preparing for the Combine at Athletes Performance in Tempe, Ariz.
"I'm not going to lie to you -- these past few weeks have been an emotional and physical grind, but that is part of the process," Amukamara explained. "I am very much looking forward to that opportunity (to work out at the Combine), especially due to the fact that I didn't play at the Senior Bowl."
Like the other highly touted prospects in Tempe -- a list that includes likely first-round picks Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert, Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green and Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus -- Amukamara came to API to improve in all areas of his game. This isn't to say he isn't putting extra emphasis on honing certain skills; just not necessarily the ones you might expect.
"I've been working a lot on my lateral agility, which is going to help in the 5-10-5 drill for the Combine, but more importantly for improving my explosiveness out of breaks when in coverage," Amukamara said. "I've also been working improving my ball skills so that I turn more of these PBUs into INTs."
There are many key traits most top cornerbacks share -- agility and the ability to come up with takeaways are chief among them. Perhaps most important, however, is pure speed.
Amukamara's stopwatch speed has been questioned by some scouts since Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon caught five passes against the vaunted Cornhuskers' secondary for 157 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard bomb, on Oct. 23. The Huskers won the game. Blackmon won the Biletnikof Award as the nation's best receiver as a redshirt sophomore, and the scouting thesis following that game in the scouting community was that Amukamara's speed was suddenly a concern.
Media members began to publicly wonder if his play was enhanced by Nebraska's pass rush. Some questioned whether Amukamara lacked the wheels to remain at cornerback, suggesting a position change to safety in the NFL.
"I am a bit surprised to hear some questioning my speed," Amukamara admitted. "I've never had any of my coaches or scouts question that part of my game.
"I certainly realize the importance of the 40, I just don't anticipate any problems in that area. My speed has never been an issue before and I don't expect that it will be now either."
If Amukamara sounds confident about his speed, that's because he's used to being the fastest athlete on the field.
Nebraska did not allow scouts to time its prospects in the 40-yard dash before the 2010 season, meaning next week's Scouting Combine will be their first chance to clock him.
One front office executive who asked not to be identified as his team could be in the market for a cornerback, offered this about Amukamara and questions about his speed.
"Our area scout had him estimated at a 4.45, which I would agree with based on my cross-check. He may not be a true blazer, but he can run and has size and a good track record of success despite having only played the position a few years," the source said. "There is still some upside there, as he's gotten away with just being an athlete and has some technical flaws that need to be ironed out. He's a pretty good player right now and I think he'll be an even better one soon. I can't see him getting out of the top 20, maybe even the top 10."
Perhaps another reason that Amukamara and scouts don't seem worried about his speed is his background. His mother's sprinting pedigree was clearly inherited by her son, who won the Arizona state Class 4A titles in both the 100- and 200-meter dash in 2007. His times in the 100 (10.78) and 200 (21.91) were both the fastest in the state.
Speed wasn't the issue -- so what happened against Blackmon?
"We were in a Cover-4 scheme, and I was expecting safety help over the top initially. Now our safeties are taught to come up to support the run aggressively and on this play, it was a flea-flicker, so they were coming up hard. Blackmon ran a great route, completely catching me by surprise. He came off the line slow and then accelerated past me. I caught up to him, but he got out of my tackle. It was good planning and execution on their (Oklahoma State's) part and I just didn't make the play when I had the opportunity."
Short of that blip, Amukamara made plays when given the chance. He's confident teams consider him a top-flight cornerback prospect. The other player in that category, LSU junior Patrick Peterson, is also considered a reasonable lock to be a top-10 draft pick.
Amukamara didn't intercept a pass in 2010, but he did snatch five in 2009 and broke up 27 passes in his career. At 6 feet, 205 pounds, he has the bulk and strength to protect the edge in the running game, racking up 123 tackles the past two seasons, when teams often elected not to throw to his side of the field.
Nevertheless, if a team drafts him with a move to safety in mind, Amukamara will take on the challenge of switching positions just as he did at Nebraska. He signed with the Huskers as a highly touted prep running back, and Amukamara initially bristled at the idea of switching to the defensive side of the ball, even considering transferring.
"That was tough. I didn't want to be a selfish player, but the success that I'd had to that point had mostly come by playing offense," he said.
"It tested my faith a little. I spent a lot of time with the team chaplain and asked coach (Bo) Pelini straight out if I could stay on offense. He told me, 'Yeah, I have no problem with that, but I've been coaching for a long time and I think you could play for a long time in the league and earn yourself some money by making the move to cornerback.' I just trusted that God knew where he wanted me and the experience of my coach and the rest is history, as they say.
"I expect to play cornerback in the NFL, but if a team wants me to play elsewhere, I think my past shows that I'm an athlete who can adapt to whatever role is needed."
extracted from cbssports.com
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