Cleveland Browns: 7-Round 2019 NFL mock draft, Vol. 7
By Peter Smith
Round 3: Amani Oruwariye, CB, Penn State – 6-1.875, 205 pounds
- 40 solo tackles (7 percent), 12 pass deflections (21.4 percent) in 2018.
Age: 23 (Feb. 9, 1996)
40-Yard Dash: 4.47s
Broad Jump: 120″
Vertical Jump: 36.5″
3-cone: 6.82s
Shuttle: 4.16s
Bench: 17 reps
This is a good news, bad news pick. The good news is that Oruwariye is a terrific zone corner with prototypical size, athleticism and production that would give the Browns more size across from Denzel Ward when he takes over that spot. The bad news is that everyone will have to learn how to pronounce Oruwariye.
He’s played a healthy mix of man and various zone coverages. Some might criticize him for playing it safe at times when he doesn’t have help over the top, giving up receptions underneath and tackling them. Oruwariye can give up too much space at times as well, but when the ball is in the air or he knows where he wants to go, he’s pretty impressive.
Oruwariye has a knack for making plays on the ball and won’t just poke it out, but he may fight harder to catch it than some opponents. And several of the eight career interceptions he has were game changing or just remarkably difficult.
Like with Thornhill, the Browns don’t need Oruwariye to start right away, but locking down that boundary spot opposite Ward is where they want him to end up. In the mean time, they still have players like Terrance Mitchell and T.J. Carrie who can play the boundary and offer different matchup strengths. In the long run, Carrie is likely gone next season and Oruwariye can replace that size and strength variable he offers.
Short term, having Ward, Oruwariye, Mitchell, Carrie and a players like Eric Murray, Morgan Burnett and Thornhill, it gives Steve Wilks an obscene number of options in terms of how he wants to play opponents in coverage. Length, physicality, speed, agility; any opponent they face, they can have Plans A, B, C, so on and so forth. Joe Schobert and any five or six defensive backs.