Coming into this 2012 season, David Amerson was viewed by many in the media as one of the premier cornerbacks in the 2013 NFL Draft. Just a junior, it seemed almost a lock that Amerson would declare and be among the top cornerbacks in the class.
But even after an up and down junior season, Amerson seemed to have already made up his mind (or strongly considered leaving after his head coach Tom O’Brien was fired), and, via Fansided.com, he has decided he will forego his eligibility and enter the 2013 NFL Draft.
With a fairly lackluster-at-the-top cornerback class, Amerson will certainly have a chance to regain his status as a top tier cornerback prospect. The 6’2-6’3, 200 pound cornerback has ideal size, and has flashed the physicality downfield, the ball skills, and the savvy-ness in coverage to develop into a feature cornerback on a roster.
But struggles with his hip fluidity and reaction to the receiver’s routes have been an issue this year. Both concerns are fairly major, however, as they seem to be critical factors for evaluating cornerbacks, especially when considering if he can get vertical in man coverage against bigger bodied receivers.
It does, however, seem that he could still fit smoothly in a Cover 2 and/or zone based system, and has the length to finish tackles and the physicality to win the short area. Still, it’s unclear if he’ll have Top 20 or even first round value as a zone only cornerback, but could have enough talent to be a dominating force in the ideal system.
Amerson won’t have a chance to participate in any all-star games, and will need to maximize his work at the NFL Combine in the form of showing he can test well and, more importantly, show he can turn and run with enough fluidity that he won’t be a liability at the next level on a consistent basis.
If he can do both of those, he’ll be right up there in cornerback rankings with seniors Johnthan Banks and Blidi Wreh-Wilson (among seniors only) for the top cornerback in the upcoming class. And when you consider that on average 8 defensive go between 25-40 every year, that leaves Amerson with a solid area to anticipate being selected if he can test well. And based on his play as a sophomore, flashes of brilliance/dominating ability, and the size/strength combo to give him lots of room to grow, Amerson may very well have made the right decision to declare.
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