One of the most underrated moves of the offseason for the Raiders was the acquisition of cornerback Prince Amukamara. After the Eli Apple deal ultimately fell through, the Raiders signed Amukamara to bring a veteran presence to their cornerback room.
Over the last several seasons, Amukamara has quietly been one of the league’s better cornerbacks. According to Pro Football Focus, they ranked the former first-round pick as the fifth-best corner in man coverage entering the 2020 season. Take a look at their thoughts on Amukamara and his fit with the Raiders:
Amukamara isn’t flashy and he’s not going to shut down one half of the field, but he’s a solid veteran with a track record of consistent play. With the uncertainty and youth that the Raiders have at the cornerback position, they needed someone like him. Amukamara just qualified for this list with 166 man-coverage snaps in 2019, but he wasn’t tested often in man and limited production well enough when he was to earn a top-five spot on this list. I would expect him to start outside in Paul Guenther’s defense, even with young guys like Trayvon Mullen and Damon Arnette in the fold.
It remains to be seen how Amukamara will exactly fit in with the Raiders’ defense this season, but it has to be comforting to Paul Guenther knowing that he can insert the veteran in at any time if their two young cornerbacks struggle.
Look for Amukamara to play a ton of snaps early in the season as they ease the likes of Damon Arnette, Amik Robertson and Isaiah Johnson onto the field.
