Back To Basics:The Prince Amukamara Edition BOOMSHOCKALOCKA!

Prince Amukamara CB Nebraska

Picking 9th overall in a draft has it's perks. The ability to get a bonafied lockdown corner is a perk that is a benefit of having a 6-10 record. Alot of mocks, even the big gurus like Mel Kiper have Prince Amukamara going to the Cowboys in their latest mock drafts. Me personally I don't see how Prince can fall that far, but you never know. A need for a QB or pass rusher, maybe a slow 40 time will push him down the board. Here we are going to take a little dive into selection Prince and why it would beneficial to the team.

What I am praying to hear on that draft night in April is "With the 9th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, The Dallas Cowboys select..............................Prince Amukamara Cornerback Nebraska. I am starting to feel that maybe he will fall to us 9th overall for a variety of reasons. Some of the teams picking before us have QB needs, and Blaine Gabbert will wow teams with his arm and accuracy, plus his size. Of course a team will love Cam Newton for the same thing, but Newton also holds a National Championship, and Heisman Trophy on his resume.

Prince isn't the blazing fast corner, like a Deion. He is more like a Nnamdi Ashomugha or Darrelle Revis, yes a Revis. What people don't realize is Revis doesn't possess blazing speed, but has amazing coverage skills just like Prince holds. I am not saing Darrelle Revis is slow, not by any means. He is very quick but his overall speed isn't what makes him a great player, its his cover skills. Prince will run a 40 time around lets say a 4.45, which isn't slow, but that might make teams pass on him.

In reading ESPN Scouts Inc report of Prince I find alot to my liking. I start with how they say he has nice size, at 6'0 203 and nice top end speed. No issues off the field, is a great leader and student, which we should continue to look for leaders in the draft. There are no injury or durability concerns for Prince has never missed a college game. Prince is also reported to have confidence in his skill set, or swagger as us fans like to call it. Physical in press coverage, but also has the quick reaction time to make plays in zone coverage. Has great recognition and in anticipation, he basically runs the route step for step with the opposing WR.

Then they go on to detail his coverage skills, which are top notch. Is great alone on a island and has the fluid hips one looks for in great secondary players. The only concern they harp on is his back pedal, which can get a little high but for a guy his size, thats pretty usual and not something I would worry about. Maintains great balance and closes in fast when a WR gets seperation, meaning he has the recovery speed to make up for mistakes, if he indeed makes a mistake. Has great ability to not get beat by double moves, to me that means he is patient on top of being quick and reactive, a common ground that sometimes is hard to find in a corner.

His ball skills are top notch, recording 5 picks last year. He had 0 this year but to be honest he was rarely tested. Is a playmaker attacking the ball and will come up with the pick. Has great natural hands meaning if he gets his hand anywhere near that ball, he is picking it off, and that's something Deion was incredible at. Has great awareness of where he is throughout the play, maintaining his balance along the sideline to come down with 2 feet. After the ball is in his hands he looks to score and make the big play, something we also lack here now from our corners.

Is willing to tackle and is physical in the run game, but it might be his weakest area, which isn't really all that weak. What I like about his scouting report is that he makes the sound tackle, instead of going for the big hit. See that's fine with me as long as your making sound tackles, which Prince does. Instead of looking sloppy and going after a big hit, he will wrap up the ball carrier.

Scouts Inc has Prince as their #5 player on their board, with a high grade of 96. For comparison sakes Patrick Peterson got a 97. But the difference between the two is their cover skills. Prince is a great athlete, but Peterson is better in that aspect. The difference between the two is Prince's coverage skills and I will take cover skills any day.

Now I looked up some of the opposing WR's Prince faced this season, and he locked down every WR he played but one. Justin Blackmon had a huge game vs Nebraska with 5 rec 157 yards 2 TD's. Other than that Prince did a great job versus the competition he faced. Guys there really aren't many flaws to this kids game, so if you want to point out and highlight Justin Blackmon, the best WR in college football last year, than so be it. Every corner gets beat, every corner does. See its how often they get beat, which with Prince its not very often. This kid is the complete package, lockdown corners are a premium in the draft, they always will be and will continue to be coveted because of how the NFL is transforming it a pass league.

As we look at the current roster, we have some nice young talent. Mike Jenkins is a Pro Bowl corner who lost his swagger and confidence and at times looked like he didn't care to be on the field. Regardless of this year, we saw what Jenkins can do when he is on top of his game. I expect a bounce back season for Jenkins, he just has too much talent to not succeed.

Orlando Scandrick is quickly becoming one of our best corners................again. Scandrick played lights out his rookie year and really showed why the Cowboys find a gem later in the 2008 NFL Draft. Scandrick excelled in the slot with press man to man coverage. Then last year, like Jenkins had this year, he had the dreaded sophmore slump. It started last year in my honest opinion, and it carried over with him to the 2011 season. But Scandrick after looking like the next Jacques Reeves, transformed himself much like Optimus Prime does in Transformers 2. After getting his ass handed to him the whole movie, Optimus Prime gets his swag back at the end of the movie and goes beast status, the same for Scandrick. With re-found swagger under a more zone coverage scheme, Scandrick got his groove back. He picked off Peyton Manning and took it to the house. Scandrick also excelled in man coverage again getting his groove back on press coverage, but looked the part in covering zone. Scandrick is physical, you gotta love when the little guy is more like a pitbull with rabies, than a Yorkie. Also Orlando has amazing speed, watch him run down Desean Jackson which was amazing to see. Scandrick has the speed and skills to succeed in the NFL, especially for us. Scandrick can also blitz, he is a great pass rusher on corner blitzes. Expect big things from Orlando Scandrick in 2011.

Brian McCann was a player as soon as we signed as a undrafted free agent I payed attention to. I remember sometime back in May or June, begging on dallascowboys.com for Wade to keep McCann over Cletis Gordon or any other bubble player. Not to brag but I am a pretty good scout of players, especially recently. I predicted success for Jenkins and Spencer the year before, and I said Doug Free would be a good LT. But where i really think I swung for the fences was a UDFA CB from SMU. After reading up on him and discovering his blazing speed, which was clocked around the 4.35 time at his SMU pro day, I really paid attention. Then I did some youtube research on McCann and found some amazing returns. McCann in my opinion single handed won two football games this year. One play doesn't win games correct, but big plays do. A interception of yet another Manning, this time Eli, in the endzone and took it to the house. Then had a huge return for a TD against the Lions. Some players just have "IT", as I like to say, and McCann has "IT". McCann has a bright future for us, because along with his return ability he has good cover skills, with blazing speed.

Terence Newman started the season great, playing great football. But at some point he got injured along the way and had nagging injuries, multiple injuries that he played with throughout the season. Now I love Newman, he has been a great football player and leader for us for many years now. It is insane to think he has only been to 2 Pro Bowls, but that's the nature of the beast. Newman had 2 great picks, one versus the Giants, and another to seal a win versus the Redskins. Sometime this season he lost his speed, and when football players that rely on speed lose their speed, its not a pretty picture. I saw countless WR's not just beat Newman, but flat out smoked him, they outran our speedy CB. The worst for me was the game versus the Saints, where Robert Meachem just flat out ran by Newman for the game winning play that setup a game winning TD. Newman also got smoked by a little WR/RB on the Eagles, his name is Hall. At that point I realized either Newman is more hurt than we know, or is losing a step. Either way I don't want to find out too late, like come September and we are stuck with a aging CB. This is why drafting a CB makes alot of sense, be prepared for Newman because the time is coming folks, it could be 6 months it could be a year or it could be next month, we won't know until we see Newman again come OTA's. I pray we get one more year out of Newman, but this is why I want a CB fairly high on the priority list this offseason.

So we have some nice talent at the CB position, but what we lack is a true lockdown corner. Now Mike Jenkins was in my opinion a lockdown corner in 2009. He simply ran the route step for step with a WR that year. Jenkins as we all know had a pitiful 2009 season. Just when you thought he was gonna come around, he made a pass interference penalty or a holding penalty. Jenkins became a target, not being avoided like he used to be. Jenkins I think is going to be ok, I have seen some great football from him and has great skills as an athlete. The concern should be Terrence Newman, who at age 32 is a major concern. Even in a down season Newman managed 5 INT's while Jenkins had 1 and Scandrick had 1. Adding Prince Amukamara gives you a pretty serious set of cornerbacks.

With Prince you could start him on the outside if Newman is deteriorated beyond the point of salvaging. Or you could play him inside on the slot, or mix him in the defense on passing downs, but what it gives you is leverage. Then you still got Jenkins and Scandrick playing outside or Scandrick in the slot. Also you got a young and up and coming player in Bryan McCann. In a division where you have to play DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, Santana Moss, Anthony Armstrong, I would say having as many corners as you can have is vital to succeeding in the NFC East.

Why the Cowboys only came into September last year with just Newman, Jenkins, Scandrick as their corners I will never understand carrying 3 CB's on your roster. Yes Akwasi Owusu Ansah plays some corner, and I am a HUGE Akwasi fan, but you should carry more than 3 corners.

This division is stocked with WR's. We have to play all of those WR's 2 times a year and that is a major reason why we should get a top notch corner for our defense. I want Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham locked down. I want DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin locked down. I want Santana Moss and Anthony Armstrong locked down. This division is becoming pass heavy, and we should be prepared.

If Prince Amukamara actually falls to us with the 9th pick, it will be a easy choice for the war room. We always value corners high on our draft board. For example if Dez Bryant didn't fall to us last year, I am pretty sure Devin McCourtey, a player we liked and invited into Valley Ranch last April for our rookie evaluations, would of been our draft pick. Every year the Cowboys look for a corner to drop to them, it is something you always hear around draft time. Every media outlet reports the Cowboys are looking for a corner to drop to them, and rightfully so. Prince Amukamara is one of the few blue chip prospects in this draft, it would be a epic gift if he falls to 9 because some team isn't impressed with a 4.5 or a 4.45 40 time. Please I beg you to pass on Prince, because lockdown corners are rare, they simply don't exist anymore.

Prince would be a major step to getting back to basics, coverage in the secondary is a fundamental all good defenses have. A lockdown corner with the athletic skills he possesses would be one of the best fits for the Cowboys this draft. It is hard to get too infatuated with a player in January because the draft boards change all the time up to April, it all depends on ones feel for that player and their combine showing. But from what I have seen from in Prince is that he is a special talent. For a funny tidbit imagine Joe Buck or some other announcer having to say "Akwasi Owusu Ansah.........Prince Amukamara", it would drive them nuts. If we get Prince I am ordering his jersey as soon as I found out what number he is wearing, hopefully its #24.

Couldn't really find much from this season but here is Prince from last year versus Texas where he had a great game. I pray we get this Prince, because he could become the Prince Of The Star. There is a reason I call him Prince Boomshockalocka, he is just BOOM!.