Prince Amukamara brings experience, consistency to secondary
By Luke Sims
Prince Amukamara signed a one-year deal to join the Jacksonville Jaguars, instantly bolstering the Jags’ secondary and providing above average play as a starter.
Throughout Dave Caldwell’s time as the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars, player after player has been thrown into starting roles on defense.
Dwayne Gratz, Demetrius McCray, Aaron Colvin, Alan Ball, Davon House. The list is nearly endless.
Now, with the signing of Prince Amukamara to a one-year deal, the Jaguars can add another name to that list. Only this time the Jags are bringing a proven starter into the mix.
Before Amukamara’s signing, the Jags had elevated few players with significant starting experience to play one of the outside corner positions. Ball was the most experienced and served as a journeyman with the team before departing prior to the 2015 season. Now the Jags have a true starting-caliber player to insert into the lineup, providing support to House (who has done well since the Jags made him a full time starter after years on the Green Bay Packers’ depth chart) and enabling Colvin to move to the slot.
Nathan Jahnke at Pro Football Focus calls Amukamara above average, grading out on their system with a 78.9 overall grade. But the most interesting stat provided by Jahnke is that Amukmara has allowed zero 100-yard receiving games since his rookie season. Since 2011, that’s 47 games of not being beat significantly in a game, which is much better than what the Jags have fielded in the same years.
Amukamara isn’t the ball hawk that the Jags need (newly-signed free safety Tashaun Gipson will fill that role) but he will stout enough against the pass for the Jags to rely on him and know that they won’t be beat, which has been a severe problem for the secondary under head coach Gus Bradley over the last three seasons.
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Hopefully the impressive run of Prince Amukamara’s <100-yard games continue with the Jaguars. It’s that kind of play that makes him valuable to the team.