Five Reasons Why Prince Amukamara Was a Great Draft Pick By The New York Giants

by Jon Johnston on Apr 28, 2011 9:29 PM CDT in Huskers in the NFL

The New York Giants selected Prince Amukamara with the 19th pick in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Congratulations!

Giants fans are probably wondering about the guy they just picked. After watching him play for the past few years, Nebraska fans can give you some insight. And if that isn't enough, head over to the SB Nation NY Giants site Big Blue View for more.

So what about the Prince you just selected? Is he really royalty? It must be a possibility, given all the Google searches coming into CN asking that very question.

1. He'll be ready to play.

One thing you need to know immediately. Don't pay attention to people who dismiss Amukamara because of a lack of statistics. Team didn't throw the ball in his direction. Opponents completed 18 passes out of 52 attempts that were thrown his way this season. That's out of a total of 390 attempts in 2010. He didn't have an interception in 2010, but it's pretty hard to get picks when the ball isn't coming your way.

Amukamara was a player Nebraska fans didn't have to worry about. He was dependable, ready to play in every game, and you can bet that he'll be ready to play the moment he shows up to training camp.

The only adjustment that Amukamara will need to make is in learning how to not be so physical with NFL receivers. That's not such a bad thing now, is it?

2. Lack of experience.

Amukamara never played cornerback until he came to Nebraska, yet in only two years of starting, he learned the position well enough to earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors (in a conference known for great quarterbacks), and first-team All-American Honors from the AFCA, AP, Rivals.com, CBSSports.com, SI.com, and Walter Camp.

If he can do all that in only a couple years, what's he going do but get better on your NFL team?

3. Coverage.

The NFL is all about coverage. Prince Amukamara is all about coverage. On top of that, the New York Giants address one of there top needs with this pick.

4. Character.

One thing you might notice if you're looking around for information about Amukamara - the guy is always smiling. He's an incredible player, but an even better human being. Never was there a discouraging word said about him during his days at Nebraska.

While your media guys may not like it because it won't give them juicy stories about him making it rain at strip clubs, you just drafted an incredible asset to your community.

5. Add It All Up And The New York Giants Got A Deal.

By the time he was selected at #19, most of the mock drafts looked similar to everyone's Final Four brackets this season. Most of those same NFL Mock Drafts had Amukamara going in the top ten of the draft. Even with the wackiness that's gone on tonight, the fact that Amukamara dropped to the 19th pick has to be a surprise. Even Giants General Manager Jerry Reese was surprised, stating Amukamara was "too much value to pass up" and he'll "play right away" because the team needed a cornerback.

Besides, how hard is it to find a good cover corner that can play at the NFL level?

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Comments

Congrats

to the New York Giants you got a hell of a corner. Is Dillard still there playing linebacker??? If so that will be a nice reunion. I didn’t think Mookie would get past Detroit and Suh. But on another note, I would like to be the first to congradulate the Carolina Panthers on successfully setting back their organization at least 3 maybe 5 years. Did they not learn anything from the Russell/Young experience. He has great physical ability but not enough upstairs for the NFL. The face of the Carolina franchise is a QB who played for three different colleges in three years, if I am not mistaken, Florida(all but kicked off the team), a JUCO somewhere in Texas, and Auburn. Who by the way won the bidding war for his services. Just wait, the NCAA likes to wait six or seven years before punishing schools for their ill gotten gains i.e. USC. John Fox would have never let that happen if he was still in charge of there. I know he didn’t win in the last two years but that was salary cap issues not coaching issues. It will be interesting to see how he does in Denver. Anyway congrats to NY for a job well done and to Carolina, congrats on successfully making yourself irrelavant for the next few years.

by Huzkerfan on Apr 28, 2011 11:01 PM CDT reply actions

Agreed

Panthers really shot themselves in the foot. I can see him being another Russell. Poor work ethic and the diva mentality.

I am a Husker first, Giants fan second. So, words cannot describe my happiness when the Giants took Prince. Dillard is still on the team, but seems he has slipped into some of his old habits (i.e. poor conditioning). He was hurt for most of last year and never pushed any of the linebackers ahead of him on the depth chart. The Giants have an average LB corps and I was really hoping Dillard would have stepped up more last year. Maybe Prince can light a fire under Dillard. I know what new Giants jersey I am getting this year! Go Big Blue and Go Big Red!!!

by CCE718 on Apr 29, 2011 7:03 AM CDT up reply actions

I’ll FanShot this over at MTD.

Although I don’t really like NYG, I am happy he was anle to go to a good team. He doesn’t deserve the Nnamdi Asomugha experience.

Go Suns, Packers, Jays, and Huskers!

Green Bay Packers: Super Bowl XLV Champions!!!!

by Omaha Sun on Apr 29, 2011 1:42 PM CDT reply actions

Buncha maroons

1st off, the Giants got themselves a steal and said as much. Cracks me up all the pundits going on about how Prince is too physical. Prince, don’t pick on those por l’il NFL boys. Look at how quickly he learned to play the position in college – he is obviously very coachable and will make adjustments in a hurry.

Cam Newton. Really. Really? I mean, has Carolina ever heard the words “character issues” Not only do they select high round QB’s in consecutive years, but they go the back to back douche route as well.

Cam got kicked out Florida & the incidents weren’t “youthful indiscretions” or “misunderstandings”. He had someone take a test for him & signed his name to it and he stole a laptop…which he repainted with housepaint and “CAM” in big white letters. Making character and basic intelligence somewhat of an issue. What were some of the the plays you ran at Auburn again, Cam?

I can’t fault him for cashing in at Auburn for $200k+ (best guess based on his Miss State turndown of $180k), not too many kids will turn away big$$$ offers.

He IS one of the biggest physical freaks to come along since Herschel Walker, however, and Carolina has decided to push its chips all in on him putting issues in the rearview and picking up an NFL offense at lightspeed. Not a bet I’d take – this ends for Carolina like it did for Mike McD in the 1st game against KGB.

Aces full, Mike.